President needs to look into Governor’s conduct, says Pawar

Parliamentarian Sanjay Raut, who is from the Sena, accused the Governor of behaving “more like a BJP state unit president” than a Governor, and sought Koshyari’s removal

Mumbai: The hostilities between the ruling parties of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified on Saturday after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar attacked Governor B S Koshyari and the Narendra Modi-led Central government stating that the President of India Ram Nath Kovind and prime minister Modi would need to look into the Governor’s conduct, and called the Centre’s actions a type of “low-level politics”.

The first day of Maharashtra legislature’s budget session on March 3 witnessed unprecedented chaos as Koshyari left the Vidhan Bhavan without completing his address to both Houses amidst sloganeering by legislators from all parties. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The Shiv Sena, which is part of the ruling coalition, sought a recall of Koshyari by the Centre. Parliamentarian Sanjay Raut, who is from the Sena, accused the Governor of behaving “more like a BJP state unit president” than a Governor, and sought Koshyari’s removal.

The first day of Maharashtra legislature’s budget session on March 3 witnessed unprecedented chaos as Koshyari left the Vidhan Bhavan without completing his address to both Houses amidst sloganeering by legislators from all parties.

“I have seen great people such as Sri Prakasa and PC Alexander as Governor of Maharashtra and in that list the name of the existing Governor (Bhagat Singh Koshyari) is being added. He is one of the examples of low-level (politics) of the (BJP-led) Central government,” Pawar said.

“Many times, he has refused to follow democratic rights of the state government. For the last one year he has not appointed 12 MLCs which is the right of the state government to recommend. If someone has determined that he will not maintain the dignity of a position, which has been maintained thus far, then it is better not to comment about that person,” he said. “The President and the prime minister need to look into all this,” Pawar added.

“Democracy and independence in the country are in peril due to such political functionaries who are occupying such constitutional positions,” Raut said. “(The removal of the Governor is not being sought just) by the government but by the people of Maharashtra, as he works like the BJP state unit chief. This does not behove someone occupying a constitutional position,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

“Instead of targeting the Governor, Pawar, Thackeray and Raut must look after the messy affairs of the state. Farmers are suffering and a farmer committed suicide as his electricity connection was disconnected. Instead of playing politics, they must focus on these issues. They have no right to say so (to seek the recall of the Governor)... they are creating fake narratives to deflect attention from the failures of the government,” BJP leader and legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar said.

The MVA government recommended 12 names for nomination to the legislative council 15 months ago. The Governor is yet to sign off on holding elections to the post of the Assembly speaker, which was scheduled to be held during the winter session of the state legislature last year.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said that the extent of difference between the government and the Governor was unprecedented. “In West Bengal and Delhi, the Governor has been used to corner non-BJP regimes.The MVA is getting a political dividend by focussing on how the Union government is misusing the Governor’s post and Central agencies to harass them. The Governor is not gaining any popularity,” he said.

The political war of words reached a fevered pitch on Friday as the MVA also attacked the BJP for alleged phone tapping of Opposition politicians in Goa by the BJP government and alluded to former chief minister and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis as playing a role in it.

In March last year, Fadnavis had revealed a report filed by the then head of the State Intelligence Department (SID),Rashmi Shukla, who was reportedly investigating a cash-for-transfer scam involving politicians and police officers. Shukla allegedly tapped the phones of senior leaders in the course of this investigation. According to the then chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, who conducted an inquiry into the matter after the former CM’s revelations, Shukla had conducted the investigation without permission. First Information Reports have been registered against Shukla in Pune and Mumbai for allegedly tapping the phones of politicians like state Congress chief Nana Patole.

“I have personally seen those documents [Shukla’s report]. There are many (leaders) whose phones were tapped. All this happened in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. We have never seen all this in the past. Cases have been registered against the officers who were involved in it. They are now facing the consequences for being involved in such activities on the orders of their seniors. All this is happening as we gave BJP five years to rule (Maharashtra),” Pawar said.

Raut said that phones were also tapped in the run-up to the formation of the MVA government in Maharashtra in 2019 and Congress leaders in Goa also made similar allegations. “A FIR has been lodged against the lady officer (Shukla). In Goa, the Maharashtra pattern of phone tapping has been followed. It is surely a coincidence that the then chief minister of Maharashtra is (the) in-charge of the Goa (BJP),” he alleged.

Atul Londhe, general secretary and spokesperson, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said that it was necessary to locate the “big boss who had ordered Rashmi Shukla to launch phone tapping” and act against the mastermind.

The tussle between the ruling parties and the BJP has intensified since the arrest of NCP minister Nawab Malik — a vocal critic of the Central agencies — by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 23 in an alleged money laundering case involving terror accused Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar. In turn, several MVA leaders have said that action will be taken in alleged cases of corruption and malpractices by BJP leaders.

Pawar on Friday rejected the BJP’s demand for Malik’s resignation and said that the minority affairs minister was a political target. Pawar pointed to how Rane had also been arrested by the Ratnagiri police but had not resigned from the Union cabinet.

Rane was arrested on August 24, 2021 for saying that he wanted to slap the chief minister. He was released on bail the same day.

“It is easy to link a Muslim (political) worker with Dawood. I have faced similar allegations in the past. He is being targeted with ill intention, he and his family are being harassed but we will fight against this injustice,” Pawar said.

BJP leaders on Friday accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government of acting contrary to the constitutional provisions.

Fadnavis on Saturday said that the amendments by the MVA government to the election process (by secret ballot) did not conform to constitutional norms.

“They have purposely committed an unconstitutional act and are blaming the Governor. They are trying to create a narrative. I feel that the Governor occupies a constitutional position and is acting as per the Constitution. It is wrong to target him like this,” said Fadnavis.

Meanwhile, Union minister Narayan Rane and his son Nitesh, a BJP MLA, were questioned for several hours by the Malvani police on Saturday regarding their allegations about the death of Disha Salian, the former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Speculations were also rife that the central agencies were going to zero in on Sena leaders including Raut, Anil Parab and Eknath Shinde.

Rane alleged that Salian was raped and murdered in 2020 and Rajput, who had come to know about this, and threatened to bring the perpetrators to book, was “killed”. The 34-year-old actor died on June 14, 2020 in Mumbai. The Mumbai police had initially concluded that it was death by suicide, but after allegations linking his death to Salian, opened an investigation on June 8. The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A sessions court on Friday granted the father-son duo interim protection from arrest in connection with a case filed against them for allegedly making defamatory statements regarding Salian’s death.

“Khel aapne shuru kiya hai.. khatam hum karenge.. Nyay milega!!” Nitesh tweeted on Saturday using the #JusticeForDishaSalian hashtag.

Quote on governor’s appointment

“The Governor is appointed at the pleasure of the President and the President in turn, acts as per the advice of the Prime Minister. The Governor can be removed by the President. The state government or legislature can make a request to the President [to recall his appointment], though it is not binding. The party in power at the Centre must consult the Chief Minister before appointing the Governor.”

Ulhas Bapat, professor of constitutional law