M A I N   N E W S

Governors’ refusal to quit may put UPA in piquant situation
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 25
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led UPA government can be faced with a delicate situation if the Governors appointed by the previous NDA government refuse to give up the gubernatorial assignment of their own volition.

Polite requests have been made to certain Governors known for their staunch RSS-BJP leanings to put in their papers in keeping with propriety following the change of government at the Centre, but it seems highly unlikely that they will oblige.

As of now, only Lt Governor of Pondicherry N.N. Jha has quit the office on the ground that there is a change of government at the Centre. Mr Jha is a former career diplomat and was associated with the BJP's foreign affairs cell. He was sent to Pondicherry as Lt Governor after the sudden death of K.R. Malkhani.

Sources in the BJP insist that it is not necessary or mandatory for the Governors appointed by them to resign. "After all, we had not sent any Constitutional head of a state packing after the BJP-led NDA assumed power. We allowed all those appointed by the previous regime to complete their term before appointing new Governors to fill the vacancy," they observed.

There is clearly a hardening of position on the issue of Governors appointed by the NDA being urged through back channels to quit the Raj Bhavan. NDA leaders maintain that the UPA government is needlessly trying to create a piquant situation by asking the Governors appointed by them way ahead of the expiry of their term as the Constitutional head of a state.

It appears remote that Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri, Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana and Haryana Governor Parmanand Shastri will accede to such a request of making way for fresh appointees, it is learnt.

Indications are that they will overlook the feelers to put in their papers and wait for the UPA government to act in the matter of removing them as Governors. That would provide the BJP and its NDA partners the necessary lever to gain political mileage and attack the UPA government.

Mr Shastri and Mr Khurana have had a penchant for whipping up controversies even after occupying the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow and Jaipur, respectively. While Mr Shastri as a Constitutional head sought to praise former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at an official function before the elections, Mr Khurana created a stir initially by deciding to have an interface with the poor and oppressed in the Raj Bhavan in Jaipur.

Clearly, there is pressure building on the Congress to accommodate some of its senior leaders with gubernatorial assignments after they failed to find a berth in Dr Manmohan Singh's Union Council of Ministers or the elections to the Rajya Sabha.

Babu Parmanand told to go
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 25
The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, has been given the marching orders by the Centre.

According to reliable sources, the Union Home Secretary, Mr Anil Baijal, rang up the Secretary to the Governor a couple of days ago to tell the Governor to submit his resignation.

Babu Parmanand is away to Mount Abu in Rajasthan. He is likely to return to Chandigarh on June 27. It is expected that he will send his resignation only after his return.