The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) running battle against Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi has intensified with the party seeking support from Opposition parties across the country to sign a joint petition asking President Droupadi Murmu to remove the Governor immediately.
In neighbouring Kerala too, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s LDF government is locked in a very bitter and public fight with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. The LDF is bracing for a legal battle over the limits of gubernatorial powers after Mr. Khan’s aggressive move of withdrawing his pleasure for the term of Kerala Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal after the latter made a comment considered seditious by the Governor.
In Tamil Nadu, DMK Lok Sabha MP T.R. Baalu penned a letter to all Opposition parties on Wednesday urging them to sign the joint memorandum. The Congress has already come on board to sign the petition seeking Mr. Ravi’s removal, while other parties are yet to decide. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh told The Hindu: “Governors who abide by their Constitutional role are now an extinct species. Each one appointed since 2014 has been a disgrace and has danced to the tune of ‘hum do’ even before that tune has even been played.”
On Sunday, leaders of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance had issued a statement accusing Mr. Ravi of deliberately expressing views to create confusion. They said he should quit the post if he wanted to express such views to please the BJP leadership. Mr. Ravi’s recent comment that a country should follow one religion had also attracted criticism from the DMK.
This is also not the first instance of the State government being at loggerheads with Mr. Ravi. The impasse between the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor over assenting to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exemption Bill had also triggered similar sentiments from the DMK.
The DMK’s letter joins a growing chorus of voices against the office of Governor in multiple States. On Monday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in a speech in the capital also urged like-minded Opposition parties to come together to protest the alleged “undemocratic and anti-Constitutional” acts of Governors.
The role, powers, and discretion of the Governor’s Office in multiple States have been the subject of constitutional, political, and legal debate for decades. Various State governments over the years have knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court to interpret the extent of the Governor’s discretionary powers. The apex court has said that the discretionary powers of the Governor’s office are “limited” and even in those limits, the exercise of discretion should not be “arbitrary” or “fanciful”.
Notably, while debating the post of the Governor in independent India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had said in the Constituent Assembly in 1949: “The Governor under the Constitution has no functions which he can discharge by himself; no functions at all. While he has no functions, he has certain duties to perform, and I think the House will do well to bear in mind this distinction...According to the principles of the new Constitution he is required to follow the advice of his Ministry in all matters.”
Multiple Commissions that were appointed since independence to look into Centre-State relations have recommended points of constitutional conduct by the Raj Bhavan for the smooth functioning of the federal structure. In 2007, the M.M Punchhi Commission report stated that Governors were expected to be independent, and to act in a manner devoid of any political consideration. It pointed out that independence of such actions would include keeping the State Legislature and the political executive shielded from the political will of the Union Government.
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Published - November 03, 2022 01:12 pm IST
