Maharashtra governor’s role brought only unhappiness: Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Ever since he assumed office as governor, Koshyari has courted controversies. A couple of months ago, during a function at Dr BR Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad, he said, “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an icon of olden times, whereas Dr Ambedkar and Union minister Nitin Gadkari are icons of modern times.”

Earlier, the governor landed himself in trouble when he stated that “Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule were married at the early ages of eleven and nine years”. “Imagine what they would have done at that age,” he said.

The remarks about Shivaji triggered an outrage with leaders across political parties and social organisations demanding the governor’s immediate ouster. Prominent leaders erstwhile royal families and former BJP MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati were among them.

BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu demanding Koshyari’s ouster. The governor’s problems never seemed to cease as his relations with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government were strained. He refused to approve the cabinet’s list of 12 candidates to be appointed to the Legislative Council. The cabinet sent the list twice to Raj Bhavan, but it was kept on hold.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar had said, “Never before did I see such confrontation between the state government and the governor. This does not behove his post.”

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray even said that he had “stopped treating him like a governor”.

The MVA had accused the governor of siding with the Opposition BJP and the party of running Raj Bhavan.

For their part, BJP leaders hit back saying the MVA was insulting the governor’s office.