Want to step down, have told PM Modi: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari

“It was an absolute honour and privilege for me to serve as the Rajya Sevak or Rajyapal of a great state like Maharashtra – the land of saints, social reformers and valiant fighters… I can never forget the love and affection I have received from the people of Maharashtra during the last little more than three years,” he said.

Modi was in Mumbai on January 19 to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for several infrastructure projects.

Koshyari, 81, took charge as the Maharashtra Governor in September 2019. Earlier this month, he had said that his role as Governor had only brought him unhappiness. Speaking to a delegation of Jain spiritual leaders on January 7, he had said: “As Governor, I never got happiness. Only unhappiness came my way. [Yet] when I meet spiritual leaders, it elevates my mind and brings joy and peace.”

Opposition leaders said Koshyari had expressed his desire to step down many times in the past while talking to them.

Soon after his appointment, amid the political impasse after the 2019 Assembly elections, when the Shiv Sena severed ties with the BJP, Koshyari administered the oath of office to Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM in an early morning ceremony. However, the Fadnavis-Pawar government lasted only three days.

This was followed by several run-ins with the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – including over Koshyari’s refusal to appoint 12 members to the Legislative Council from the gubernatorial quota, despite the state government’s recommendation.

More recently, addressing a gathering in November last year, Koshyari said: “Shivaji is an icon of the old era; I am talking about the new era. You will find (icons) right here. From Dr Ambedkar to Nitin Gadkari, you will find them here.”

Following protests over his remarks and demands for his resignation, he wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating that he would never even dream of insulting icons like Shivaji.

In February last year, he triggered another row with his remark that Samarth Ramdas was a guru of Shivaji. Maratha organisations issued a statement saying that Shivaji’s guru was his mother.

In July last year, Koshyari said Mumbai would not remain the financial capital of the country if Gujaratis and Marwaris were removed from the city. His remark drew criticism from several Opposition parties.

In March last year, a video of Koshyari went viral in which he is seen mocking the child marriage of social activists Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule.

“He (Koshyari) had told us several times in the past that he wants to leave and had conveyed this to the Centre. Now he has made a written application for the same. We expect that the decision will soon be taken,” said NCP’s state president Jayant Patil.

“Maharashtra BJP has been consistently pointing fingers at the Centre over the demand for removal of the Governor. On the contrary, the Governor has been demanding that he should be relieved, but the Centre is neglecting the demand. It seems that the Modi government and BJP leaders want to keep him here, despite all his statements against the idols of Maharashtra. Does this mean that his statements were at the direction of the Centre,” said Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant.