The controversy generated by the Union Home Ministry’s move to seek the resignation of some Governors is not the first time that the constitutional heads of States have felt slighted.
During a two-day conference of 26 Governors and three Lieutenant-Governors at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in February, when the UPA was in power, several of them complained that the State governments were not giving them respect, with some even saying that the Union Ministers snubbed them by not calling on them during visits to the States.
Unhappy at being sidelined by the government and not being “briefed properly” on important issues, the Governors had taken up the issue with President Pranab Mukherjee, whose office, in turn, instructed the Home Ministry to issue a directive to all Ministries to ensure that the Union Ministers called on, and interacted with, the Governors during visits to the States.
Sources told The Hindu that the Home Ministry was asked to issue the instruction, but whether it was done is not known. The Union Human Resource Ministry was instructed to examine issues related to the role of Governors as Chancellors and Rectors of state universities and to keep them “fully informed of various schemes launched by it.”
One Governor complained that the State government had asked him to be less vocal after he openly disagreed with it on some issue. During the conference, he pointed out that the Governors were “duty-bound” to speak out. Their rights were protected by the Constitution and they were entitled to raise issues of national interest, he added.
“Mr. Mukherjee not only gave a patient hearing to the Governors but also encouraged them to be more proactive,” a source said. The President told the Governors that the Constitution provided enough space for them to act in the best interests of the Centre and the States.
