Thawarchand Gehlot appointed as K’taka governor

Bengaluru Amid buzz of Cabinet reshuffle, Union minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Thawarchand Gehlot, on Tuesday was appointed as the governor of Karnataka, relieving Vajubhai Vala who has been the head of the state since September 1 2014

Bengaluru Amid buzz of Cabinet reshuffle, Union minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Thawarchand Gehlot, on Tuesday was appointed as the governor of Karnataka, relieving Vajubhai Vala who has been the head of the state since September 1 2014.

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The appointment of Gehlot comes along with change of heads of other states across the country as approved by President Ramnath Kovind on Tuesday, according to a statement by the Press Information Bureau.

“I extend my warm welcome to Shri Thawarchand Gehlot Ji as the new Governor of Karnataka. The state will benefit from Gehlotji’s long experience in public life & commitment to social justice. I thank Governor Shri Vajubhai Vala Ji for his contribution to Karnataka,” BS Yediyurappa, the chief minister tweeted on Tuesday.

Opposition leader and member of the Congress party Siddaramaiah also welcomed Gehlot as the new governor. “Many congratulations to Union Minister Shri. #ThawarchandGehlot for being appointed as Governor of Karnataka. I wish him success in the new role and hope he works earnestly to uphold the Constitutional values,” Siddaramaih. He, however, did not mention anything about Vajubhai Vala.

“Congratulations to Sri @TCGehlot on being appointed as the Governor of Karnataka.

My best wishes to the outgoing Governor Sri Vajubhai Vala for his future endeavours,” DK Shivakumar, the state Congress president said in a post on Twitter.

Vala had taken over from K Rosaiah, the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, who was given additional charge of Karnataka after H.R. Bhardwaj’s five-year tenure came to an end in June 2014.

Vala has presided as head of the state during one of the most defining political times of the southern state during which there were four chief ministers in a span of seven years.

Siddaramaiah was chief minister from 2013-18 when Vala took office. However, after the elections, Vala had invited Yediyurappa and the Bharatiya Janata Party with 104 out of the 224 assembly seats to form the government on May 17, 2018 since it was the single largest party despite it being short of the majority of 113. More importantly, the JD(S)-Congress had already submitted their formal alliance that gave them the majority.

But the controversy did not end there as Vala gave Yediyurappa 15 days to prove his majority despite the latter only seeking seven days.

The Congress and JD(S) took the matter to the Supreme Court and a three judge bench, in a midnight hearing, reduced the time to prove majority by the evening of May 20.

Yediyurappa, who could not mobilise the numbers, stepped down from power after just two days and on the floor of the house admitted to having approached legislators from the Congress and JD(S) to switch over.

Three days later on May 23, HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) was sworn in as chief minister after the Congress stitched up an alliance with their old rivals to keep the BJP out.

In the 14 months that followed, the Karnataka Raj Bhavan or official residence of the Governor, became the biggest platform for the politics that played out after the coalition was nearly wiped out in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which the BJP won an unprecedented 25 out of the 28 seats.

The mass resignations followed from within the coalition government amid allegations that Yediyurappa and the BJP were luring legislators from Congress and JD(S) to defect for personal gain.

Much of the resignation drama was played out in the Raj Bhavan which eventually helped Yediyurappa being sworn in as chief minister for a record fourth time on 26 July 2019.

Vala had also been at the helm when contentious laws like the anti-cattle slaughter were mooted by the Yediyurappa-led government as well as for the amendment of the Lokayukta act among others.

He leaves at a time when the talk of Yediyurappa being replaced by the BJP is gathering steam.