More interesting than the choice of Governors sacked by the President on Friday is the story of those who have been spared the axe.Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana stands out among them. Rama Jois, Governor of Bihar, has also survived for the time being, but that, say sources, is because the Congress has not yet found a suitable replacement acceptable to the RJD.Khurana was initially on the Congress’ hitlist. He is a hardcore partyman, who was the BJP’s chief minister. But his name suddenly disappeared from the list. In the higher echelons of the Congress, there where whispers that Khurana may prove to be ‘‘useful’’ and ‘‘helpful’’ in the weeks to come, and so it was better not to disturb him.BJP leader Arun Jaitley had another explanation. ‘‘The Congress,’’ he said, ‘‘has no immediate political agenda in Rajasthan.’’ The BJP has a clear majority in the state, and the state government is expected to last its full term. The Congress cannot derive any immediate political benefit from changing the governor there.Jaitley said, ‘‘The selection of these four states clearly indicates that the Congress is planning to misuse the governor’s office. In Goa, the difference between them and us is only 3; we are 21 out of 40, and they are 18. In Haryana, the difference is only that of half a dozen seats. In Gujarat, they can always sack Narendra Modi. In UP, if the Congress and Ajit Singh pull out, it could be President’s rule in the state, and the Congress would like to instal its own man as governor.’’Those tipped to takeover are former Nagaland chief minister S.C. Jamir for Goa; former IB Director TV Rajeshwar for UP; Nawal Kishore Sharma for Gujarat and A.R. Kidwai for Haryana. Since Kidwai is a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha, it is said that the vacancy would be filled up by M.L. Fotedar.Publicly, the BJP and the Congress attacked each other for politicising the issue, but the fact is both parties have appointed politicos as governors. They have removed governors when they came to power. The Congress on Friday charged the BJP of removing in 1998 Satish Chandra as the governor of Goa, A R Kidwai from West Bengal, Mata Prasad from Arunachal Pradesh, Krishan Pal Singh from Gujarat, and A.P. Mukherji from Mizoram. Romesh Bhandari, who was governor of UP, had resigned on his own after the BJP government took over.In 1977 also, the Congress spokesman said, the Janata Party government, of which the BJP was a part, had asked three governors to go. They were R.D. Handare (Andhra Pradesh), Uma Shankar Dixit (Karnataka) and M.M. Chaudhury (Punjab). V.P. Singh when he became PM in 1990 had sent 18 governors packing.
