Advani to Prez: Governors targeted for their BJP past

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and senior party colleagues today petitioned President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to intervene...

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and senior party colleagues today petitioned President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to intervene in the Centre’s apparent decision to dismiss governors with a BJP background.

According to sources, Kalam told the BJP delegation he would look into all constitutional and legal aspects of the issue. ‘‘We drew the President’s attention to the fact that some governors are being removed for political reasons. It seems those who had relations with the BJP are being informed that they should resign and if they don’t, they will be removed,’’ said Advani, as he emerged from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A senior Home Ministry official had called up secretaries to the governors of UP, Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana on Thursday, advising them to put in their papers, sources said. The official told them there was a precedent — that governors had been asked to resign when there was a change of government at the Centre, the sources added.

Advani said governors are supposed to have a fixed tenure and that the President has to invoke the constitutional provision of withdrawing his pleasure, if they are to be removed. ‘‘Pleasure is not revoked arbitrarily,’’ he said. On being asked if the governors were being targeted because of their affiliation to the RSS, Advani said: ‘‘There is no reason I know of other than that they are linked to the BJP’’.

When asked why the BJP leaders petitioned the President after having met the Prime Minister over the same issue on Saturday, Advani said: ‘‘he (President) has a key role. We felt the PM was not familiar with the issue. He was only aware of Haryana, but later the Home Minister said other governors were also being considered (for removal)’’.

When a reporter pointed out that the BJP government had also removed some governors, Advani said: ‘‘As far as I remember, those appointments were made prior to the elections.’’

When asked to elaborate on the BJP strategy in case the Government did sack the governors, Advani said that the party would decide later.