The ongoing political tussle between governor HR Bharadwaj & chief minister BS Yeddyurappa in Karnataka has not only turned ugly but has reached a new low in Indian polity. It is true there are some grave charges against Yeddyurappa and morally he should have stepped down till he is proven innocent in this case but the governor has also jumped the gun by giving a go ahead for the prosecution of Yeddyurappa before receiving the investigation report.
This is not the first time that the head of state has given a sanction for the prosecution of a state chief minister but the fact that they belong to opposition parties and the manner in which both the sides are acting clearly suggest that it has become a political war.
The time has come that the post of President & governor should be strictly reserved for individuals outside politics. The role of a President & governor is to over see that the elected government and political parties are performing their duty properly. In times of emergency & crisis they have to step in to protect the welfare of the people and the state.The notion that these posts are a mere rubber stamp with no power is not true. In times of constitutional crisis and emergency the role of a President & governors becomes extremely important. The post has a lot of significance and should be reserved only for highly educated and qualified individuals from across the spectrum.
But unfortunately in India this post has become a ‘medal’ to award the loyal party workers. Rarely do you find that the head of state is someone outside the political circle and belongs to another walk of life. Even the president’s post has become a reward for party allegiance. For example, Pratibha Patel was chosen by Sonia Gandhi to become the first lady President of India despite India having so many successful women with impeccable record in public life. Patel’s biggest edge was that she had been a loyal Congress worker and extremely close to the Gandhi family.Even today out of the thirty three governors in India a majority are politicians & bureaucrats. A majority of them were part of the Congress party at some stage or the other or held important bureaucratic positions during Congress rule at the centre.
Even when the BJP led NDA was in power it chose many BJP veterans as governors. No matter how unbiased the individual may try to be in most cases he/she ends up acting biased one way or the other. Especially during crunch situations the governor is expected to favour the party he or she has been associated with. To avoid such a scenario the constitution should be amended and it should be made mandatory that the President & governors are a non-politicians. India is rich when it comes to individuals who have been successful in different disciplines of life. The best examples of a head of state were former Presidents Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam & second president of India – Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. Both had no political background & did true justice to the post.
It has been a Congress tradition to award its loyal party leaders the ‘medal of governorship’ at the end of their political careers. The same trend was followed by other parties when they came to power. Its time for a course correction and the Congress should take the lead by awarding this post only to individuals with no history of political affiliation. Not only will this avoid biased decisions but also bolster the image of a President & governor’s post.
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