On Tuesday, the Modi government sacked its Lieutenant Governor in Puducherry, Kiran Bedi. The Lieutenant Governor n Union territories is eq...
On Tuesday, the Modi government sacked its Lieutenant Governor in Puducherry, Kiran Bedi. The Lieutenant Governor n Union territories is equivalent to the post of governor in states. The person holding the post is appointed by New Delhi.
Bedi’s dismissal comes after more than four years of bitter politics. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had repeatedly complained that the Lieutenant Governor had severely hamstrung his elected government.
However, that by itself, did not lead to Bedi’s sacking. NDTV reports that this was done to protect the Bharatiya Janata Party from possible blowback in the upcoming Assembly elections. Clearly, ruling the Puducherry from Raj Bhawan was not going to be a popular plank at the polls.
While Bedi might be gone, the trend of the ruling party using governors to play partisan politics is still going strong. In Kerala, the Centre-appointed governor has constantly interfered with functions that lie squarely with the elected government. In Maharashtra, the Congress, which is part of the ruling coalition, has threatened to move court against the governor given the latter has refused to accept the cabinet’s advice on the appointing of nominees in the legislative council.
In West Bengal, the governor functions largely as an opposition politician, ironically taking on a government that, as per the constitutional...
