Buta Laloo Singh

Imagine President A P J Abdul Kalam, Supreme Commander of the armed forces, writing a letter to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him...

Imagine President A P J Abdul Kalam, Supreme Commander of the armed forces, writing a letter to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him to transfer a Brigadier. Clearly, Bihar Governor Buta Singh does not have that imagination. For, despite the state being under President8217;s Rule, despite the fact that he sits in Raj Bhavan at the pleasure of Rashtrapati Bhavan, he writes a letter, as exposed by this newspaper, asking Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav to upgrade an officer who, in turn, brags that he knows the Governor for 20 years. Both Buta and Laloo contemptuously dismissed the question of impropriety8212;Laloo saying the officer couldn8217;t be transferred because of a vigilance probe against him we applaud Laloo8217;s new faith in accountability and Buta, being too clever by half, slipping in the fact that the officer belongs to a 8216;8216;Scheduled Caste.8217;8217;

But social justice hasn8217;t always been Buta8217;s fig leaf. This is the third time in as many weeks that he stands exposed. First, he transferred several police officers, many of them with a proven track record of standing up to the Laloo-Rabri government and its flunkeys in the administration. Then, there was the flutter over the Governor8217;s relatives having neglected to file an audited account of the earnings before tax authorities from a tsunami relief cricket match they had organised in February.

The pattern is clear: Buta Singh8217;s conduct betrays a disturbing nexus between the present incumbent of Raj Bhavan and the earlier political dispensation in the state 8212; the Laloo-Rabri combine. Laloo Prasad Yadav is not just the Union Railway Minister, his party, in alliance with the Congress, is desperate to win the forthcoming Assembly election.

By seeking a favour from Laloo, the Governor has clearly undermined the impartiality that Raj Bhavan is bound to maintain 8212; and be seen to maintain 8212; at all times. So the question before the Centre and the Congress should be: how long do we allow Buta Singh to behave as a member of Laloo8217;s coalition? The last time, Bihar resoundingly voted against Laloo. This, if not constitutional propriety, should make the Centre think of easing the Governor out. Unless, of course, Laloo throws a tantrum. After all, he has 24 MPs8212;and don8217;t we all know that the Congress needs to keep the BJP out to defend secularism.