The Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday announced the appointments of governors to 12 states and the lieutenant governor of the Union territory of Ladakh, in a major gubernatorial rejig that has come ahead of assembly elections in some states and the general elections next year.
Key among the announcements was the appointment of Ramesh Bais as Maharashtra governor, after President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and retired Supreme Court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer’s appointment as the governor of Andhra Pradesh.
An RSS stalwart, Koshyari, whose term since 2019 was marred by controversies, announced last month that he has conveyed his wish to step down from the post to Prime Minister Narendra Modi —a statement that followed demands by several Maratha groups for his removal after he said that saint Samarth Ramdas was a guru of Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji.
His tenure was also marked by the early-morning swearing-in of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy in 2019. The government, however, did not last and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government was subsequently sworn in.
Several points of friction also existed between Koshyari’s office and the MVA government, which later collapsed in June last year.
Justice Nazeer, who demitted office on January 4, was part of the benches that delivered key verdicts, including the Ayodhya dispute and the triple talaq case.
His appointment as Andhra Pradesh governor drew some criticism, with the Congress citing the late BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s remarks who called such appointments a “great threat” to the independence of the judiciary.
Sharing a video from 2012 on Twitter, in which the former Union minister said that “pre-retirement judgements are influenced by post-retirement jobs”, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Adequate proof of this in the past 3-4 years for sure.”
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters: “One of your (BJP) tall leaders, sadly no more with us, Arun Jaitley, on September 5, 2013 in the House and several times outside stated that ‘the desire of a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgements. It is a threat to the Independence of the judiciary’.”
The BJP said the appointment of a former Supreme Court judge as a governor is not barred by the Constitution. BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni said the Congress “has a habit of politicising every issue, and it was unfortunate that the opposition party is doing so with the appointment of governors also”. “Our Constitution also says nothing against post-retirement appointment of judges,” Baluni said.
Justice Nazeer was part of the five-judge Constitution bench that in November 2019 cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) and directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque at a different location.
He was elevated as an apex court judge on February 17, 2017.
The justice Nazeer-led five-judge Constitution benches delivered two separate verdicts this year, including the one which by a majority of 4:1 validated the legality of the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise the ₹1,000 and ₹500 denomination currency notes, saying the decision-making process was neither flawed nor hasty.
Bais, who will exit as the governor of Jharkhand, had a brush with controversy when he returned several bills including the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021 and questioned the rules framed by the state government regarding the formation of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC).
During his tenure, the tussle between the Jharkhand Raj Bhavan and the Hemant Soren government came to a head when Bais put off revealing the election commission’s recommendation on action to be taken against the CM in a complaint related to Office of Profit and alleged violation of the Representation of the People Act.
After the BJP alleged that Soren allocated a stone quarry to himself while in office, the EC sent its recommendation in a sealed cover to the Raj Bhavan, which Bais did not reveal.
In Ladakh, the appointment of Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) comes at a time when the central leadership is concerned over the demands for implementation of Schedule VI under Article 244 in the Union territory, which allows the formation of autonomous district councils that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.
Representatives of Kargil and Leh divisions have refused to join a high-powered committee, chaired by minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, set up to discuss issues pertaining to the protection of land, environment, jobs and culture of the UT.
Earlier this month, educationist and ice stupas creator, Sonam Wangchuk observed a five-day hunger strike in Khardung-la to press for the demand which he said was essential to protecting the fragile ecology of the region.
“There is concern (in Delhi) over how the protests in the UT over the implementation of Schedule VI and the fresh demand that the UT be merged with Jammu and Kashmir were handled,” a BJP functionary said, seeking anonymity.
The appointments of Gulab Chand Kataria, leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly, as Assam governor and CP Radhakrishnan as Jharkhand governor have political undertones.
Kataria, an RSS man and a Mewar strongman, was seen as a rival to former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. In 2012, when he staked a claim to the top post, a feud erupted between Raje and his supporters. Raje had even threatened to quit the party.
With Rajasthan set to go to the polls towards the end of the year, Kataria’s appointment is being seen as a conciliatory move towards Raje.
“Although the party leadership has announced that the elections will be fought with PM as the face, Kataria’s appointment could signal Raje’s undisputed leadership,” the party functionary cited above said.
In Tamil Nadu too, Radhakrishnan’s relationship with new party president, K Annamalai, has been fraught with the two taking a divergent stance on the issue of calling a strike in Coimbatore against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazagham.
While Radhakrishnan gave the call for a bandh, the legal counsel for Annamalai told the Madras high court that no such announcement was made.
Radhakrishnan’s appointment, thus, appears targeted towards reducing friction in the state unit.
Anusuiya Uikye will exit as Chhattisgarh governor to replace La Ganesan as Manipur governor. Ganesan will assume the post of Nagaland governor.
Uikye, representing the Scheduled Tribe community, was speculated to be one the likely candidates for the post of President before the appointment of Droupadi Murmu.
Since her appointment in 2020, Uikye had several run-ins with the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh.
She rejected the state government’s proposal to convene a special session of the assembly to introduce a Bill to circumvent the now repealed farm laws and another Bill to increase reservation for SCs and STs, taking the total to 76% of total government posts and seats in educational institutions.
Biswa Bhusan Harichandan has been sent to Chhattisgarh from Andhra Pradesh, while Lt General Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik, PVSM, UYSM, YSM (Retired) has been appointed as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh.
Among other appointments, Lakshman Prasad Acharya will be the governor of Sikkim; Phagu Chauhan will be governor of Meghalaya and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar the governor of Bihar.
“Chauhan’s role will be under focus in Meghalaya as the election has become a contest between the BJP and its former ally the NPP and the Congress. If no party gets a clean mandate, then the action will shift to Raj Bhavan,” the functionary said.
Nagaland and Meghalaya will elect new assemblies on February 27.
