Governing guideline

As the investigations carry on into allegations of police trigger-happiness in Nandigram, and the government makes reparations for the loss of life and injury and does so in an environment charged with intra-Left Front bickering and national politicking 8212; all-party inspection teams parachuting down from New Delhi 8212; Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should be able to look at Raj Bhavan without any doubt. The governor has a role 8212; the high constitutional functionary can have a calming presence in such times. But, and with due respect to Governor Gopal Gandhi8217;s motivation, it is arguable whether his statements have had that effect.

Let us re-emphasise: a governor is no rubber stamp. But equally, it is best and indeed crucial that he does not appear to join a policy debate. Whether he is seen to be doing so, whether his statements can be interpreted as indicating such an intervention is hugely important, particularly at a time when political tempers are running high. It is possible to argue that Governor Gandhi8217;s statements after the Nandigram incident haven8217;t quite passed this test. Why is it that gubernatorial assessment of the situation seemed to be coming close to interrogating the state executive8217;s course of action? If the public expression of 8220;a sense of cold horror8221; appeared somewhat unhelpful in terms of soothing emotions, the urging later that the transition from agriculture to industry should be a 8220;happy one8221; came unfortunately close to being read as a corrective prescription. The issue here is not at all whether Bhattacharjee was right or wrong, or the desirability and pace of certain economic policies. The important point is that gubernatorial statements cannot be seen to be making value judgments on what are completely executive decisions. The matter would have been different of course, had constitutional issues been involved. There, governors have a clearly defined role.

A constitutional culture is healthy if all functionaries acknowledge limits, even those that have not been formally put into writing. Governor Gandhi is undoubtedly one Raj Bhavan appointment who raised and will continue to raise expectations of a kind of maturity that has been sadly lacking in many governors recently. It is precisely because Governor Gandhi stands out as one of the few inarguably able recent holders of this office that the disappointment is stronger.