Ramesh Bais arrives in Maharashtra Raj Bhavan with Jharkhand row still trailing him

Former Congress Union minister and CM Prithviraj Chavan underlined that the Governor “is expected to adhere to constitutional duties”. “He has to keep his politics at abeyance and perform duties without prejudice, which did not happen under Koshyari’s tenure. It was evident Koshiyari was pushing the BJP’s agenda at the behest of someone at the top,” Chavan said, adding that all non-BJP rules were witnessing similar conflicts between the Governor and government.

A veteran BJP leader, Bais, who hails from Raipur, started his political career in 1978 as a municipal councillor, in undivided Madhya Pradesh. He stepped into electoral politics in 1980, contesting the Assembly elections from Mandir Hasod, which he won. Five years later, though, in 1985, he lost his seat.

Known for his loyalty and commitment to the organisation, he was chosen to represent the Lok Sabha from Raipur in 1989, and was re-elected in 1996. He successively represented the BJP in the Lok Sabha in 1998,1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

As minister of state under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bais held various portfolios, namely, steel, fertilisers, environment and forests, as well as information and broadcasting, with the MoS with independent charge for environment and forests in Vajpayee’s second tenure the high point.

During his tenure in the Lok Sabha, he invited flak when, speaking on atrocities on women, he said: “While rape of a grown-up woman/girl is understandable, the rape of a minor is a heinous crime and those responsible should be hanged.” As the Opposition protest, the BJP officially tried to explain that he was not justifying crimes against grown-up women or girls, and that his words had been misinterpreted.

Bais’s tenure as Governor too has been dotted with controversies. He took over in 2019 as Governor of Tripura, and continued till July 2021, when he was moved to Jharkhand. After Chief Minister Hemant Soren faced allegations of misusing his office by allotting his firm a mining licence, the Election Commission submitted a report to Bais which was believed to have recommended Soren’s disqualification as MLA. However, Bais sat on the recommendation and never made it public, and was accused of doing this so as to give the BJP time to move in and break away MLAs from other parties to form the government.

In an unusual move, Bais then sought a “second opinion”, claiming: “I don’t want anybody to point fingers at me. I have sought a second opinion on the office of profit. If it were my intention to dislodge the government, I would have easily accepted the Election Commission’s recommendations.”

The impasse is still to be resolved, even as Bais now moves to Maharashtra.

However, BJP leaders insist Bais’s vast political experience will help him in the complex and huge state. A senior BJP functionary said, “When you have a single party with absolute majority governing, it is less complicated. But when there is a coalition government, the role of the Governor is significant.”

Welcoming his appointment, BJP vice-president Prasad Lad said, “The Governor is a constitutional post. We are sure he will serve his role in Raj Bhawan well. He has wide experience as he started his political journey from the municipal corporation, and served his way up as MLA, MP and Union minister. His services and experience will benefit Maharashtra.”