Telangana Governor, govt face off again, this time over delay on Bills

Sources in the Raj Bhavan said the delay is because the Governor has sought some clarifications regarding the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, to which Education Department officials are yet to respond, adding that the Governor has written a letter to the government, asking Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy to meet her and discuss the Bill.

Along with the state universities recruitment Bill, the state government had sent five others to the Governor—the GST (Amendment) Bill 2022; the Telangana State Private Universities Amendment Bill; the Azamabad Industrial (Termination and Regulation of Leases) Bill, 2022; the Telangana Municipal Laws Bill, 2022; and the Telangana Forest University Bill—after the Assembly session in September. However, except for the GST Bill, none other has been cleared. The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill 2022 was passed for recruitment of instructors in the state’s 17 public universities. Now, several student unions are also demanding that the Governor clear the Bill immediately.

The delay has caused further deterioration in the relationship between the Governor and the TRS government. The Governor’s recent outburst against the state government at Chennai—in which she accused the TRS government of humiliating and insulting her—has also sharply escalated the stand-off.

In September, Soundarajan, speaking at an event at the Raj Bhavan to mark the beginning of her fourth year as Telangana Governor, had accused the TRS government of humiliating her office. She said she was not allowed to hoist the national flag on the 75th Independence Day, or deliver the Governor’s address. “Wherever I go, protocol is not followed. Collectors and police chiefs of districts don’t turn up wherever I go. History will be written on how a woman governor was discriminated against and mistreated in Telangana,” she had said.

Early this year, relations between the Governor and the state government turned frosty, when the former decided to hold “praja darbars” at the Raj Bhavan. Soundarajan said she would “seek grievances” from the people and forward these to the state government. TRS leaders and ministers denied the accusation that the state government had humiliated her in any way, and accused the Governor of acting like a BJP leader. TRS leaders said the Governor did actually deliver a Republic Day speech this year, but she “neither showed it to the government nor sought its approval”—violating established norms. They also accused the Governor of holding media conferences that turn into state government-bashing and politically-motivated criticism.

Soundarajan again clashed with the state government, when she recently visited women patients who had developed complications after hysterectomy at a government hospital, and sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to each of the 11 patients from her discretionary grants, which TRS leaders claimed was done to embarrass the state government.