Amid aircraft row, Maharashtra Governor makes unexpected visit to Delhi

Koshyari was to travel back to Mumbai from Uttarakhand on Saturday but he changed his plan and reached the national Capital. Koshyari’s secretariat did not reveal about his scheduled visits

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is locked in a bitter tussle with the state government, made an unscheduled visit to New Delhi on Saturday instead of returning to Mumbai from Dehradun.

In an embarrassing instance, Koshyari had to deplane after he was told that the CM’s office had not approved a request sent by the governor’s secretariat for the government-owned aircraft to travel to Dehradun. (HT FILE)

Koshyari was to travel back to Mumbai on Saturday after attending the 122nd induction training programme of IAS officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration at Mussoorie, held on Thursday. He, however, changed his plan and reached the national Capital on a commercial flight from Uttarakhand. Koshyari’s secretariat did not reveal about his scheduled visits. He will now return on Sunday evening.

According to central government officials, Koshyari may meet authorities in Delhi amid the controversy over the denial of the state aircraft by chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray for the Governor’s Dehradun visit on Thursday. “There is no official meeting scheduled, but there could be meeting on Sunday in relation to this entire episode,” an official said. The governor is also expected to report the entire episode to the Union home ministry.

The state government’s attempt to turn the table on Raj Bhavan by issuing a statement on action against the secretariat officials, seeking a report from them and the Saamana’s editorial terming the tour as “private” is believed to have been taken seriously by the Raj Bhavan. The state has not sought any formal report from the Raj Bhavan yet. “We have not asked for any report formally so far. If honourable CM instructs us to do so, we will write for such report,” said Sanjay Kumar, chief secretary, Maharashtra. Meanwhile, there was no statement from the Raj Bhavan over the reports on Thursday’s incident.

An official from the Mantralaya said, “It’s a matter of interpretation whether the tour was official or not, as he was invited at IAS academy as the Maharashtra governor. It cannot be termed as his personal visit just because the academy is in Dehradun [Koshyari hails from Uttarakhand]. Also, the aircraft was procured to fly VVIPs — with Governor being on the top in the list — after permission from CM. As the head of the state, the governor does not need the permission, but only needs to intimate the government. He boarded the flight assuming that the permission will come last minute, as usual.”

The official said all other technical permissions for the flying were in place. The official said Koshyari had asked for the state government’s aircraft for the first time to go to Dehradun.

The Saamana editorial stated, “The governor was informed a day before his scheduled departure that he cannot be given permission to use the aircraft as it was a personal trip. Despite it, he went to the airport out because of his stubbornness. He should maintain the honour and dignity of the post he is holding. He is being used as a puppet and that’s an insult to the nation.”

It added that the governor has not appointed the 12 members recommended by the state government to the legislative Council from his quota because he “follows the orders from Delhi”. “The appointment has been stalled at the behest of the BJP,” the editorial had stated.