Political Diary

New Delhi, 21 June 2014

Governor’s Scam

CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS, MR MODI?

By Poonam I Kaushish

Even as Delhi was wilting in the blistering loo, another kind of hot air was blowing through the corridors of power. As part of a continuing farcical drama playing out to perfection, Prime Minister Modi new Government is busy over-hauling Constitutional bodies, whereby  those occupying posts like the Governor, Chairpersons of the National Commission for Women, National Commission for ST/SCs, NDMA et al have been asked to quit. No matter, it exposes a culpable facet of our rulers’ democratic temper!

Call it déjà vu or Et tu NDA, either which way Modi’s 2014 is not National Front VP Singh’s 1989, neither NDA Vajpayee’s 1999 nor UPA Manmohan Singh’s 2004 who got Governors appointed by their predecessors to resign. Succinctly, it is problematic. What with some of the nine Governors --- Kerala’s Sheila Dikshit, Maharashtra’s Sankarnarayana and West Bengal’s Narayanan digging their heels and refusing to vacate their Raj Bhavans.

All resting their case on a 2010 Supreme Court ruling which laid down that a change of Government at the Centre was not a ground to remove Governors, even if they were out of sync with the policies and political ideologies of the Party in power. The order was in response to a PIL filed by a BJP MP who had challenged the removal of the Governors of UP, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa by the UPA in 2004.

That Modi means business was apparent when the Government made clear it intends using the on-going CBI probe into the Augusta Westland VVIP helicopter pay-off deal which implicates Goa’s B V Wanchu and Narayanan (ex-SPG and NSA chiefs respectively) to get them to quit or be removed by the President as the investigating agency is waiting to question them 

In fact, already the Centre has asked Maharashtra Governor Satyanarayanan to desist from nominating MLCs to the Legislative Council. Resulting in an ugly face-off between the BJP and Congress. Pertinently, in the worst case scenario an ugly and protracted legal battle could ensue if even one of the Governors decides to move court. 

Ironically, Modi’s tit-for-tat policy doesn’t square with what his Party elders A B Vaypayee and L K Advani had said when the UPA sacked NDA appointed Governors, terming it as a “big blow to democracy and a dangerous practice.” Two Union Ministers for Finance Arun Jaitley and Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu had also called the move ““a gross Constitutional impropriety” and “anti-democratic.”

Notably, this has once again opened the constitutional Pandora’s box on the role of the Governor, his qualifications and his Constitutional obligations and duties. Raising a moot point: Are Governor’s the Centre’s chaprasis? Or, are they the keepers of the people’s faith as the Constitutional head of their respective States. Are ideologies to be the touchstones for matters of this Constitutional nature? Would not this weaken the federal structure of the country?

Alas, the prism of time has distorted the role a Governor has to play wherein today this high Constitutional office has been unabashedly politicized turning him into a kathputli of the Centre who acts as a pawn of his political mai baaps in Delhi. Overlooking the letter and spirit of the Constitution and its framers.

Instances are aplenty. Circa 2008: Meghalaya, Circa 2007: Karnataka, Circa 2005: Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand. The common denominator? Each Governor interpreting read misinterpreting the rule book any which way he wanted, drawing his own conclusions based more often than not on delusions as long as he and his benefactors at the Centre could rule the roost.

Moreover, it has become the perfect lollypop for political castaways, parting gifts for subservient bureaucrats and convenient posts for inconvenient rivals. The essential criteria for a Governor’s selection is no longer whether he is a man of stature and known for his integrity and objectivity, but whether the man can be a yes-man, a chamcha.

In fact, petty politicking, gross interference, open partisanship and vision of personal grandeur are increasingly becoming the routine attributes of the Governors. Raj Bhavan postings have come to be seen as the best way out for the Ministers under a cloud. We have examples of power-brokers being appointed Governors and their returning to active politics after a gubernatorial stint. Former Union Home Minister Shinde was Andhra Governor earlier as was ex-Foreign Minister SM Krishna of Maharashtra.

Sadly, over 60 per cent of the present lot of Governors are active politicians and the rest ‘pliable’ bureaucrats, police officers and Army Generals. Ever ready to function as the Centre’s lackey and destabilise the State ship. By playing the I-spy game---petty politicking, gross interference, open partisanship at the Centre’s behest. Even, using a minor law and order problem to the Centre’s political advantage to impose Central rule in the State. Bluntly, make life hell for the Chief Minister.

Tragically, all lament the decline of the Governor’s institution but continue to exploit the office and play merry hell with elected Governments, be it NDA, UPA, NF etc.  A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black!

Top experts affirm that the basic role of the Governor is not just to represent the Centre but, as the head of the State, to serve his people and fight their battles with the Centre, not vice versa. He has to bear in mind the overall national interest, not partisan Party interests.

The Constitution empowers him to influence the decisions of an elected Government by giving him the right “to be consulted, to warn and encourage” His role is overwhelmingly that of a “friend, philosopher and guide” to his Council of Ministers with unrivalled discretion. A lot more than those of India’s President. 

To curtail the Governor from playing politics in the Chief Ministerial stakes, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution headed by Justice Venkatachaliah, advocated significant changes. It wanted the Chief Minister to be directly elected by the Assembly to obviate the need to test majorities in the Raj Bhawan. The Commission was of the opinion that this would combat the growing menace of horse-trading (sic.).

Pertinently, the Sarkaria Commission had also made two weighty recommendations. One, the Governor should be appointed in consultation with the Chief Minister of the State. Two, his tenure of five years should not be disturbed, except in rare circumstances for “extremely compelling reasons”.  Basing it on the premise, of the Governor being a “Constitutional sentinel and vital link between the Union and State, not a subordinate or subservient agent of the Union Government”.

What next? Clearly, the Governor’s office has to be revamped and restored to its old glory with assured tenures. It is the time to rise above politics, appoint neutral Governors and men of eminence not jee husoors who could distance themselves from the eternal battle of Party politics.

As long as the Centre continues to play petty, partisan politics, India will be greatly hurt. The Governor must not be reduced to the level of a glorified chaprasi! It is now imperative that a Prime Minister who postulates the Constitution also practices what he solemnly preaches! ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)