Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan interview: ‘We are Governors, not rubber stamps to approve every decision made at Cabinet meetings attended by CM’s family members’

How has your stint as governor of Telangana, a non-BJP state, been so far?

I should say that it (TRS) is being dangerously callous… Officers of the rank of the Superintendent of Police (SP) have stopped giving me protocol protection for almost a year now. My programmes are also skipped by collectors. How can they refuse to give me protocol protection and stop SPs and collectors from attending? My Chief Security Officer is another interesting story. He often declines to accompany me, so I now travel with just one officer, my Aide De Camp (ADC), on many trips.

How do you react to the charge that governors are acting at the behest of the BJP-ruled government at the Centre?

Many steps undertaken with goodwill are being misrepresented here. It appears that the ruling governments are losing confidence and blaming everyone and everything. What political goal could there possibly be for a governor to visit a flood-a, ffected area? I made the choice to focus on the tribal areas in Telangana’s flood-affected Bhadrachalam district during the recent floods when nobody had any plans to visit them. I boarded a train to get there. When the Chief Minister made the decision to go, he took a chopper but arrived six hours after I did. Why don’t they regard it as a supportive measure? Why do they assume it has political undertones? Even the most senior members of the ruling party troll me online. In essence, they want us to be confined to Raj Bhavans.

Do you think the government is trying to discourage you from being proactive?

Not just that. For instance, I was supposed to travel six hours to go to a tribal festival that was 290 km from Hyderabad early this year. They discouraged me, claiming that it would be risky as it was a naxal-dominated area.

Despite the fact that I almost always take trains, I asked for a chopper to get to the event. I was finally forced to take the road as they did not respond to my request until the very last day. There was no protection even as they knew it was a naxal area.

There have been numerous security lapses just in the last six months. In spite of my requests to change my protocol security officer, they still haven’t done so.

The CM called my office on Republic Day to tell me not to give a speech. He promised to attend the customary “At Home” event at my house on last year’s Independence Day. The Chief Justice and I waited for him there for a long time…Freedom fighters and others who fought for the nation were present at the event. Why was a governor’s address rejected? Why can’t I attend a convocation programme in my capacity as a university chancellor? Why can’t I attend a tribal festival in my capacity as a Governor? Is this how a governor’s office is treated by an elected government?

The charge against a lot of governors who are involved in similar conflicts with state governments is that they act as BJP-RSS supporters, not in accordance with the constitutional position they hold.

I cannot comment about other governors or states. We are governors, not BJP or RSS members. Such views against us are largely speculative.

However, the fundamental fact remains that no Governor can behave or perform in front of the people like an MLA. We are holding a constitutional position.

But they (state governments) are politically biased, so they see us as political workers. But we will not support everything they do, because we are not rubber stamps. Claims about holding an elected office and being superior are false. Do Rajya Sabha MPs actually hold an elected office?

There are concerns that the growing number of disputes between state governments and governors could result in a governance crisis…

One problem I see is the attitude of some CMs who expect quick replies and approval from governors. I cannot talk about individual cases of governors, but the process of clearances is also about obtaining certain legal clarity on each file. A governor has the right to ask and clarify.

When lands are swindled, institutions and universities are overrun with ineligible family and ruling party members, and Cabinet meetings where such decisions are made are attended by five or six family members from the CM’s family, including their daughters and nephews…They expect us to act like rubber stamps, instantly approving their decisions. I always make sure that there are no delays from my side in approvals, unless there are valid legal issues. After all this, we confront the government on certain grounds, and they deny us security protocol.