Governor must stay apolitical

Until recently, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had given the impression that he was a chip of a different block compared to some of his counterparts in non-BJP-ruled states who were sparing no effort to confront the government of the day on every possible issue, perhaps in the hope of pleasing the BJP’s central leadership and its government at the Centre.

But just when he was beginning to draw praise for being apolitical, Gehlot seems to have strayed into the path of his counterparts in other Opposition-ruled states, such as in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengal, in dealing with the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.

He has thus opened himself to criticism that he is acting at the behest of the BJP.

In a sign of the worsening relationship between the Governor and the government, Gehlot, who recently sanctioned an investigation against the Chief Minister, is learnt to have, over the past eight months, returned 11 bills that had been passed by both Houses of the legislature and sent to him for assent.

Some of these bills, even routine pieces of legislation, have been sent back twice. Gehlot, it appears, has taken a leaf out of the playbook of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi who had developed the habit of sitting on bills indefinitely, until the Supreme Court intervened. Gehlot has adopted a different way of stalling the legislative agenda of the elected government – sending them back seeking clarifications.

In the case of the Cooperative Societies Bill, the Governor has done so citing a memorandum submitted by Opposition leader R Ashoka.

This move by Ashoka to get a bill that has been passed by the Assembly and the Council, stalled using the office of the Governor is an affront to legislature and defeats its very purpose as a law-making body.

Gehlot ought not to have become an accessory to Ashoka’s political game. On another bill which aims to create a common fund pool to improve amenities in small temples and provide insurance cover for priests, the Governor has sought to know if the government had conceptualised a similar legislation for other religions.

The Governor opens himself up to the charge that he is seeking to do the BJP’s bid -- stall a bill that the party had opposed but did not have the strength in the legislature to defeat. 

The Governor’s actions on the bills hit at the root of our parliamentary and federal democracy. Karnataka is not under President’s rule.

The Governor is duty-bound to respect the will of the legislature, which represents the will of the people.

But for some exceptions, Karnataka has generally witnessed healthy relations between Raj Bhavan and the government. Gehlot should continue that tradition.