Maharashtra government doesn’t allow governor Koshyari to use state plane

According to Raj Bhavan, Koshyari was expected to attend 122th IAS induction program at the Lal Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, on Friday

The unease between Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government deepened with the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) –Congress coalition denying permission to Koshyari to use the state’s airplane to travel to Dehradun on Thursday. The Raj Bhavan secretariat and the state government sought to blame each other for the incident. Following the controversy, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, saying the incident has maligned Maharashtra’s image, while Sena said the state was merely following rules laid down by the home ministry.

Maharashtra government doesn’t allow governor Koshyari to use state plane

According to Raj Bhavan, Koshyari had reached the international airport and even boarded the state’s airplane, but he was told the aircraft would not take off as the chief minister’s office (CMO) had not approved the travel, so consequently, permission for flying was not sought from the flying authority. The governor then took a commercial flight to Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

According to Raj Bhavan, Koshyari was expected to attend 122th IAS induction program at the Lal Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, on Friday and he was supposed to fly in a government aircraft on Thursday morning to Dehradun and had planned to reach Mussoorie by road

“The Governor reached the CSIM Airport at 1000 hrs and boarded the government plane. However the Hon’ble Governor was informed that the permission for the use of government aircraft had not been received. As directed by the Hon’ble Governor, tickets for Dehradun were booked on a commercial aircraft leaving Mumbai at 1215 hrs immediately and accordingly, he left for Dehradun,” said the governor’s secretariat in a release issued here.

The CMO, however, blamed the secretariat for the entire episode.

“The secretariat should have ensured that they had permission to use the aircraft before the governor’s departure from his official residence. The state government is not at fault and the officials at the governor house responsible for negligence will have to face the action following the directives issued by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in this regard,” stated the CMO statement.

“The chief minister has taken serious cognisance of the episode and has directed the administration to fix the responsibility on the officials concerned at Raj Bhavan,”the CMO said, indicating that action would be taken against the officials for not informing the governor about the permission updates.

The request from the Governor House was pending for approval till Wednesday night. The Governor’s office was also informed about the status of the request, officials said.

As per the procedure, CMO approves all requests for using government aircraft and informs the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which gives further clearances, the officials said.

In its clarification, CMO said, “The state government received a request from the Governor House for using the aircraft. As per the accepted practice, permission is sought for the use of aircraft and after getting approval it can be used. On Wednesday, the Governor House was informed that the CMO was yet to clear the request. The secretariat is expected to finalise travel plans and bring the governor to the airport based on the permissions for using the aircraft, but it didn’t happen. The governor could not travel to the desired destination in the government aircraft because the concerned officials at Raj Bhavan didn’t take any confirmation.”

“In fact, Raj Bhavan officials are expected to take all precautions for a person appointed at an important position such as governor, but that didn’t happen and he (Koshyari) had to face this. Taking serious note of the incident, the chief minister has directed to fix responsibility of the concerned officials,” CMO said.

Chief secretary Sanjay Kumar said he didn’t have any information. “I don’t know anything about this. CMO and the state aviation department deal with the issue.’

Following the controversy, Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Thackeray government, saying that the incident has maligned Maharashtra’s image.

Former chief minister and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis slammed the MVA government over the incident. “The Governor was not given the permission to use and he had to deboard the aircraft. We have never seen such an egoistic government in Maharashtra ever. It is completely wrong on part of Uddhav Thackeray (CM) to make an ego issue out of everything. It is not someone’s personal property but of the state,” Fadnavis said in his response.

“I don’t think denying the use of an aircraft will affect the Governor in any way but it has certainly maligned the image of the state,” he stressed.

State protocol minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is also Yuva Sena chief, youth wing of Shiv Sena, didn’t respond to calls and text messages.

Shiv Sena leader and chief spokesperson said dismissed the charges of the opposition that the Sena-led state government acted with vendetta and disrespect against Koshyari. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut said the state was merely following the rules laid down by the Home ministry for use of government machinery for private or personal use.

“Maharashtra government or the chief minister has not and will not do anything to disreSpect the governor. I spoke to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray about it. There are rules and regulations set by the Home Ministry if the Governor wants to use the state machinery for his personal or private engagements. If the government had broken these rules then the government would have been blamed. The Maharashtra government has merely followed these rules... Nobody can use government machinery for their personal and private use, not even the chief minister,” Raut said.

In an indirect attack on the Governor over the approval of 12 nominated members of legislative council (MLCs), Raut said that not clearing the recommendation of the Cabinet is an “insult of the Constitution and democracy”. “The biggest insult of the Constitution and democracy is not approving the names of 12 Governor-appointed members despite the State Cabinet giving its recommendation. The opposition party and BJP must speak on this issue,” he said. He also attacked the governor stating that Koshyari is a BJP leader and the Raj Bhavan was used for party activities than state affairs. “What has the BJP got to do with this issue? If they are feeling so bad [about it] they should have given him a plane; they have several commercial planes. Koshyari saheb is a BJP leader. Of late in Raj Bhavan party activities are going on than the affairs of the State,” he said.

Raut refuted allegations that the state government acted in a disrespectful manner. He said, “Instead, the state has upheld the Constitution and the rules. Whenever the governor needed airplane or helicopter for official use, the government has duly provided him that. Koshyari saheb is also the Goa governor, too, where there is a BJP government. He should use their machinery and put some burden on that government as well. There is no question of acting with vendetta. The government has only followed the ruled.”

Responding to Fadnavis’s allegation that the MVA government is egoistic, Raut said, “How has following rules become a question of ego? If the manner in which the Centre has behaved in the matter of the three laws is following the rules, then how can governor not getting the plane become an ego tussle? Should we not follow the rules.” He added, “Who said that the commercial airplanes are unsafe [during Covid]. If that is the case, then looking at his age, he should not step out of Raj Bhavan.”