Governor’s post should be abolished says Singhvi

New Delhi : Amid growing instances of run-ins between Governors and Opposition-ruled state governments, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday said the governor’s post should either be abolished or a person of stature who is not into petty politics be appointed by consensus. Singhvi also weighed in on the repeated standoffs between the Chair and the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament and called for reforms to ensure the Chair is not partisan.

The four-time MP said a very big failing of this government is that it “demeaned, devalued and diminished” every institution and there were several instances of governors acting as a second chief executive or a “second sword in the same scabbard”.

"Will a person like Gopalkrishna Gandhi do such a thing? I am taking his name, though he was nominated by our party for the vice president’s post, but such people who do not cross the limit and do wrong, (either appoint them) or abolish the governor’s post.” .

If the governor becomes a challenge or threat for the CM then the governor has to go because elections are held for a CM not a governor, Singhvi said.

“What is happening today is that the governor says I will not pass the bill 8-10 times and ultimately when I go to the court and make sure you have to pass the bill, you refer it to the president. Governance is suffering, actual decisions can’t be taken, governor is acting like another chief executive as a second sword in the same scabbard,” the eminent jurist said.

The principle that Ambedkar created for governors and CMs of not having two swords in one scabbard, the government is violating that “shamelessly”, Singhvi added. Singhvi’s remarks come amid repeated standoffs between governors and opposition-ruled state governments such as in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka. The senior advocate, however clarified, he was not commenting on Karnataka, where the governor has approved prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah in a case, as the matter is sub-judice and was talking in general about the role of the governor.

On the frequent run-ins between the Chair and the opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Singhvi said it was very sad for him as he cherishes the Parliamentary spirit of camaraderie. “I believe that Central Hall is not a place, it is a concept. I believe in cross-party large-heartedness, magnanimity. I believe genuinely in the characteristics of people like A B Vajpayee and (Bhairon Singh) Shekhawat,” he said. “So with all those genuine beliefs, I feel sad, I feel very tormented. You cannot negate democracy by saying that ‘because of strong disagreement, I will suspend over 140 people’.