Row between Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and CM Uddhav Thackeray may not end soon

The uneasy relations between governor Koshyari, a former BJP leader and ex-CM of Uttarakhand, started with the formation of the MVA government in November 2019.

Although chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s response to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s letter on reopening of places of worship was a bit surprising, it was not unexpected. The tussle between Raj Bhavan and Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has been going on for the past seven months. The letter war between the two people occupying constitutional posts is an outcome of the same.

Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari along with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and wife Rashmi as the wait to for their car as the King of the Kingdom of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia  leaves Raj Bhavan in Mumbai in December 2019. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

The uneasy relations between governor Koshyari, a former BJP leader and ex-CM of Uttarakhand, started with the formation of the MVA government in November 2019. While the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP were trying to cobble up a coalition, they were shocked when BJP tried to form government with a breakaway faction led by NCP’s Ajit Pawar. The Sena targeted Koshyari for recommending lifting of the President’s Rule in the state and administering oath to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as the CM and deputy CM early morning. The experiment failed; the three-party coalition formed the government.

The first major friction between the MVA government and governor was witnessed in April, when the latter refused to accept the state cabinet’s recommendation to nominate Thackeray to the state legislative Council. Thackeray was facing a constitutional issue as he had to get elected to either of the two houses of legislature within six months of swearing in as the CM. As elections to nine seats of the Council could not be held due to the pandemic, the cabinet recommended Thackeray be nominated to the Council by the governor as one of the 12 members who are nominated to the upper house every six years. The 12 governor-nominated seats are meant for people from different fields such as literature, social service, education, art, etc and these berths are vacant. MVA wanted Koshyari to make an exception due to the unprecedented health crisis. Koshyari refused to accept the cabinet’s recommendation, leading to MVA criticising his intentions. It was only after Thackeray reached out to PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, a solution was worked out. The governor wrote to EC and the election for nine seats was announced. The parties reached a consensus on not holding a contest. BJP bagged four seats, NCP-Sena two each, while Congress got one. Thackeray was elected to the council.

The camaraderie between Raj Bhavan and Thackeray was short-lived. The past few months saw Koshyari taking a tough stand on issues and differing with the state, sometimes even summoning officials. He refused to accept state’s decision to not hold examinations for final-year students. He met actor Kangana Ranaut who complained to him against Sena-ruled civic body’s move to demolish parts of her office. He also met a retired naval officer who was assaulted by Sena workers for circulating a post against CM on social media.

According to Sena leaders, Thackeray chose not to have an issue with the governor all this while. He even tried to mend fences with his aide Milind Narvekar periodically visiting Raj Bhavan. However, Koshyari’s strongly worded letter over reopening of temples and questioning Thackeray’s Hindutva credentials irked him, they say. It is the first time in the tussle that Thackeray retorted with an equally strong language (and his party ensured that the letter was put in the public domain).

There was no response from Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has backed Thackeray and sought the attention of the PMO to the issue.

It is unlikely that the tussle between Raj Bhavan and MVA government and CM Thackeray will end here. In fact, it may become more bitter, as the nominations of 12 members to the Council are pending. “The entire episode is unfortunate. Such a friction between governors and elected governments are now common in some states, but Maharashtra never witnessed something like this. The kind of language should have been avoided. It may be seen as a friction between Delhi and state government,” opined political analyst Hemant Desai. “The sad part is serious problems such as Covid-19 pandemic and state of economy are not getting centre stage amid this noise,” he added.