Ship out Razi

Syed Sibtey Razi is evidently a man of many meetings. With each meeting he conducts, his trust in his own judgment gets consolidated. In direct proportion, every constitutional responsibility he bears as governor of Jharkhand is reduced further into farce. First, on March 2, he demanded that the five independent legislators whose support the NDA claims for return to power in Jharkhand drop in at Raj Bhavan once again on the morrow. They did, and repeated their support to the BJP-JD(U) alliance, indicating the support of 41 MLAs for Arjun Munda. Razi, however, was after something more, he wanted political stability. And for reasons he refuses to divulge, he saw stability shining through Shibu Soren’s claim — so what if the JMM-Congress combine was not ordered to parade its support, or if it was not the largest pre-poll alliance. That act of blatant partisanship, in contravention of all established norms and conventions, has thrown Indian democracy into a crisis larger than the stakes of the legislators involved.

It will take huge correctives from the Centre and much cooperation from the Opposition to put this unfortunate episode behind us. That will hopefully happen. But one thing is beyond negotiation: Razi’s continuation in Raj Bhavan. He must go. On Friday through a string of meetings — with, among others, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Home Minister Shivraj Patil — he has tried to amend the terms of his invitation to Soren and clear an escape route for himself. Now, says Razi, Soren’s vote of confidence will be advanced. Presumably, thereafter, all will be well at Ranchi Raj Bhavan, and the governor can go back to reciting couplets.

It is not so simple: a little tinkering with the schedule will not undo all the damage of these past four days. The bad faith sown by Razi’s hasty partisanship has travelled wide. Among the casualties are: this Parliament session, the spirit for cooperation (such as it was) among all political players in Jharkhand and Bihar to stick to democratic norms for government formation, the dignity of his office and by extension the leverage governors have in resolving stalemates, the soul of India’s Constitution. It is a heavy burden for a man to bear. Razi must deal with that. But outside Ranchi’s Raj Bhavan.