New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) A governor is not an agent of the centre, former governors said here Friday while terming Karnataka Governor H.R. Bharadwaj’s alleged interference in the state’s matters as ‘overstepping his constitutional limits’.
At a seminar on the ‘Role of governors in contemporary scenario – Can media help raise awareness?’, four former governors – Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha, Lt. Gen. (retd) K.M. Seth, Lt. Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh, T.N. Chaturvedi and former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap discussed the role of a governor among other issues.
‘A governor is appointed by the ruling party but he is not an agent of the centre in the state,’ Sinha, who served as governor in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir between 1997 to 2008, said.
The seminar was arranged by journalist and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra, with BJP leader L.K. Advani as special guest.
Sinha also said that the confrontation of the Karnataka governor with the chief minister did not make any sense.
Though Singh maintained that there should not be ‘governors anymore’ since it ‘creates a difficult atmosphere to function’ when the state and union government are ruled by different political parties, he said the ‘right person’ should be chosen as the governor.
Singh said: ‘No more governors anymore,’ adding ‘I have had the worst experience of my life as governor of Assam but I completed my tenure. I believe the right person should be chosen as the governor for any state.’
Saying that the issue of the role and functions of governor has been a topic of debate for a long time, Mitra said: ‘Bharadwaj has agitated the democratic minds of the people by making demands out of his constitutional power… Governors are misused by party and party workers over a long time except during the time of the (National Democratic Alliance) NDA.’
Concluding the event, Advani pointed out that the NDA government during its rule between 1998 to 2004 had appointed governors in all states ‘only with the consent’ of the chief ministers.
‘I appreciate general Sinha for proposing this seminar to me and for initiating this in the light of the Karnataka situation and also Chandan Mitra for using the media centre as the forum to discuss this,’ he added.
Bharadwaj had July 17 asked Karnataka’s BJP government to take action against the Reddy brothers, who are state ministers, over the illegal mining issue.
