Bhai Mahavir’s tenure at Raj Bhawan has been controversial, to say the least, but perhaps, he has been more sinned against than sinning in a state where Digvijay has the corner on news spins. He remains among the few individuals in the state who remain resistant to the Digvijay charm. The charges against Mahavir — long associated with the RSS and a founder-member of the Jan Sangh — are several: of overstepping his powers as a constitutional authority, of lacking the tact necessary for the post and often espousing publicly the pro-Hindutva views of the RSS. But there is a flip side: In many specific cases, he has taken a stand where he had good reason to do so.In September 1998, barely five months after taking charge, he overruled a state decision turning down a Lokayukta request for the prosecution of former ministers B R Yadav and R K Singh in an alleged criminal conspiracy. Several such issues continue to be outstanding between the state government and the governor:l The decision to ask the state to consider requesting the Centre for a CBI inquiry against the Chief Minister himself in a case relating to the allotment of land by the Cabinet to an Indore-based daily. The allotment was subsequently cancelled.l His refusal to put his signature on a Bill that curtails the governor’s power as chancellor and allows for private universities.l His decision to refer the Bill on a police commissioner for Indore to the Centre.One example — Mahavir’s opposition to the dilution of the chancellor’s powers — suffices to show why the decision remains important under the current dispensation. This is the only reason why controversial additional secretary of Higher Education Kamlakar Singh has not become V-C yet. Now indicted by experts from Chennai for plagiarising his PhD, he has twice been nominated for the V-Cs panel by the state government.But along with his stand on public probity, Bhai Mahavir’s integrity has never been contested, with even several of the BJP cadre complaining that their work is never done at Raj Bhawan.Bhai Mahavir is also known to be a strong supporter of religious education, which is often cited as evidence of his opposition to secularism. And it is in keeping with this view of the governor that much has been made of only one senior minister of the Digvijay Singh government — Minister for Gas Relief Arif Aqeel — being present to see off Bhai Mahavir. It was seen as a pointed message by the CM to an avid proponent of hindutva.But these events can be interpreted variously, and indeed there is one that reflects well on Bhai Mahavir. Last December, on the 19th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, the governor called for an independent inquiry into the continuing contamination of land and water by remnant chemicals. Aqeel, who has continued to flagrantly ignore the evidence — thereby endangering the health of tens of thousands — brushed away the demand. He, like so many in the government, may have been glad to see the back of Bhai Mahavir, but it does not rebound to Aqeel’s credit.
