Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday urged President Pranab Mukherjee for his immediate intervention for replacement of acting State Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya who has allegedly “converted his office into an annex of BJP office”.
In a letter to the President today, Mr. Gogoi alleged the continuance of Mr. Acharya as in-charge Governor of Assam would cause immense difficulty in functioning of parliamentary democracy and create fissures in the State’s secular ethos.
“We had welcomed Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya to our State as we presumed that being a high Constitutional functionary, he would conduct himself fairly, cautiously and circumspectly,” he said.
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“However, I am pained to say that ever since assuming office, the Governor of Assam through his actions has steadily lowered the prestige of the institution of the Governor,” the Chief Minister asserted.
He said: “Mr. Acharya made a shocking public statement that ‘Hindustan is for Hindus’ on November 21 last.”
Such a statement, condemned by almost all sections of society, “reflects the unacceptably divisive and communal mindset of an incumbent holding a high Constitutional post” and “is in flagrant violation of the secular tenets of the Constitution”, the Chief Minister said.
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