Author: Editorials
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: March 7, 2014
URL: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/no-governing-principle-2/
On election-eve, UPA does it again — doles out governorships as political prize and patronage.
The manner in which the Centre rushed through the appointments of governors in Kerala and UP — hours before the EC announced the 2014 poll dates — has reinforced the well-founded suspicion that gubernatorial posts are doled out as political patronage. Kerala’s new governor, Sheila Dikshit, may well have an impressive resume as a three-term chief minister. Yet, by anointing her as governor in the immediate aftermath of a comprehensive electoral rout, the UPA has signalled that it regards the high constitutional post as a consolation prize.
As for B.L. Joshi, the officer-turned-governor, who has served as governor all through the 10 years of the UPA regime, the Congress has handed him a second term in UP. In fact, Joshi’s elevation had seemed to be part of another mystifying pattern — of the UPA selecting an inordinately large number of senior officials in the country’s security and intelligence establishment for the governor’s post.
The Constitution designates the governor the titular head of a state. With the rise of regional parties, increasingly articulate regional interests, and with the predicament of the state and Centre being ruled by different parties becoming more and more commonplace, the governor has become a crucial mediator in Centre-state dialogue and confrontation. The governor is not just called upon to use her discretion when no party or alliance has won a clear majority in polls — she also plays a sensitive and often delicate role in between elections.
Yet gubernatorial appointments continue to be made along whimsical, partisan lines. The Sarkaria Commission suggested “it is desirable that a politician from the ruling party at the Union is not appointed” as governor. It also recommended that the Constitution be amended to ensure “effective” consultation with state governments on such appointments. These suggestions are yet to be taken seriously.
More, the appointments of Dikshit and Joshi can be seen as part of a slew of populist measures announced by various Union ministries just before the EC’s poll announcement. The coincidence — of the appointment of governors with the inauguration of new sports complexes, guesthouses and libraries — confirms the UPA’s cavalier approach to matters of political propriety. If the office of the state governor is to regain its credibility, the Centre must treat it with greater respect and care. It cannot be made into a parking space for retired bureaucrats, spooks and party loyalists.
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