Restoring the sanctity

Raj Bhavans went through a reshuffle on Sunday as the Centre announced 13 names to be appointed as the governors of certain states. The names include that of a retired Supreme Court judge, two Army officers and four BJP politicians. This incident came after the resignations of Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the lieutenant governor of Ladakh RK Mathur were accepted by the Indian President. The recent reshuffle in the Raj Bhavan assumes significance in the context of increasing tensions between Raj Bhavans and certain state governments. Flipping the pages from the past, it becomes apparent that the ‘ornamental’ position of the governor — a legacy of the British rule in India — was continued in the independent era after much deliberation. It won’t be wrong to say that it was one of the areas where the decision of our Constitution makers might not have been guided by crystal clear conviction. Grey areas were left in the scheme of things, which started acquiring a dark theme as federalism assumed effective strength with the regional parties coming forth to question the unequivocal dominance of the Indian National Congress at both the Central and state levels towards the last decades of the 20th century. It has to be said in a sad tone that the grey areas have gotten worse in the past decade. Unfortunately, the Central government is leaving no stone unturned to exercise effective control on opposition-ruled states through their ‘agents’ — as governors have notoriously come to be referred to. It is evidently clear that the Indian polity has deviated a great deal when it comes to living up to the Constitutional vision of the position of the governor. It can be said with conviction that instead of acting as a dynamic link between the state and the Centre, many governors have opted to misuse and escalate the limited discretionary powers they were accorded under the Indian Constitution. One saw a perpetual, bitter interaction between one governor of West Bengal and the Chief Minister, not long ago in the past. Then one saw a Tamil Nadu governor preaching nationalism to the elected leaders of the state. The list, obviously, is longer. Such instances of political overreach are not just detrimental to the state and Central polity but also nudge one to be suspicious about the most recent reshuffle in the Raj Bhavans of states. The appointment of judicial and military figures, post their retirement, as nominal state heads, is problematic by design. It might create an alluring pressure on existing position holders at critical posts — testing their capability of acting in an impartial manner. The Centre is expected to be wiser and more far-sighted in its judgement to appoint governors of states. If the condemnable trend of governors being the ‘agents’ of the Centre continues and escalates further, it will certainly not bode well for the Indian polity. The Centre cannot, and should not take refuge in the kiddish argument that the governments in the past have been doing the same. Evolution and Constitutional refinement are the names of the game. The Centre, irrespective of the party in power, has a huge responsibility of changing things for the better rather than replicating and exacerbating a bad past. As part of the solution, one eagerly looks at two prospects, primarily. In the first place, the new governors, in their individual capacity, must break free from the derogatory notion of being subservient to Central interests. There is enough precedent from the past where individuals have enriched the Constitutional positions they were trusted with. India needs more governors who will raise the bar and restore the lost credibility of the position. There have been odd instances where well-meaning governors stood out in the true sense of the term. That oddity has to be made into a norm. Secondly, it is completely up to the ruling government at the Centre to cleanse the process of appointment and functioning of governors to a point where the upcoming regimes will find it hard to backtrack. If required, the re-interpretation of the Constitutional position of governors can also be carried out.