BJP won146;t mind Pandey removal

Even AS the BJP-led Opposition hotly debated the issue of sacking of the four governors in the Lok Sabha today, it seemed resigned to the fa...

Even AS the BJP-led Opposition hotly debated the issue of sacking of the four governors in the Lok Sabha today, it seemed resigned to the fate of Arunachal Pradesh Governor V.C. Pandey.

Highly placed sources in the BJP said the Government will not be 8216;8216;entirely unjustified8217;8217; in sacking Pandey, in view of the various letters he had shot off to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. 8216;8216;His legal position becomes tenuous after the contradictory letters he sent to the President,8217;8217; they said.

Pandey 8212; having dissolved the Assembly on recommendation of Chief Minister Gegong Apang last week 8212; later sent a letter to Kalam, stating that President8217;s rule should be imposed in the state. The same evening, he sent another letter, seeking withdrawal of the earlier one, saying he was forced to ask for President8217;s rule as he was surrounded by disgruntled MLAs. He sought to stand by his earlier recommendation of dissolution.

Apang, also lobbying for dissolution, met Home Minister Shivraj Patil today and gave him the cassettes and documents relating to the Governor8217;s 8216;8216;gherao8217;8217;.

However, Patil cited Pandey8217;s actions to have the last word in the LS debate. 8216;8216;We have not given any assurance about not removing the Governor. One thing is certain that we will not act in haste. But what do we do when we get contradictory letters,8217;8217; he asked.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee answered, with a smile, 8216;8216;take your own decision8217;8217;.

Earlier, while replying to the debate initiated by Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, the Home Minister said the Government had not committed any 8216;8216;blunder8217;8217; in removing the Governors of Gujarat, Goa, UP and Haryana. It was in keeping with Constitutional and legal provisions, he said.

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Replying to what Advani termed as an 8216;8216;outrageous assault on multi-party democracy as enshrined in Constitution8217;8217;, Patil used the arguments of constitutionality and precedent. He said the other non-Congress governments at the Centre, including the BJP, had not only removed governors in the past but also dissolved nine elected assemblies in one go in 1977.

8216;8216;A Governor is a nominated person, while an elected Assembly has a representative character. Wasn8217;t it more dangerous than removing Governors. It harmed the federal structure of the government much more,8217;8217; Patil said.

On Advani8217;s remark that the CMs of the states concerned were only informed about the Centre8217;s decision, Patil said: 8216;8216;We did consult them in our own fashion8230; Consultation is not concurrence, and consultation is not consent8230;Some had readily agreed and some had reservations.8217;8217;

During the debate, Advani also appealed to the Home Minister to accept the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission, Inter-State Council and Constitution Review Committee that had suggested that the governors should complete their full term. Patil said the recommendations of all three panels were only 8216;8216;advisory in nature and not binding8217;8217; on any government.

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He made it clear that a Governor held office at the 8216;8216;pleasure of the President8217;8217; and also cited a 1982 judgement to support his contention. Quoting from the judgement, Patil said, 8216;8216;the idea of a fixed mandatory term for the Governor could strike at the very roots of the Union of India, endanger executive efficiency, affect Centre-state relations and become a focal point for separatist tendencies8217;8217;.

Mithi presses for President8217;s rule

NEW DELHI: Building pressure for Arunachal Governor8217;s ouster and imposition of President8217;s rule there, a delegation of MLAs led by former CM and PCC president Mukut Mithi met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the Home Minister on Sunday.