Raj Bhavan, a palace of intrigues – III
The company he keeps!
Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion. And Caesar, too. The Governor being the ‘titular’ Head of State under the Constitution should not only be fair and even but also must appear to be so. He must not conduct himself in a way inviting aspersions to be cast either on his office or his person, by way of his associations.
His Excellency Dr M. Channa Reddy, our very Excellent Governor does not think so. Some of his recent actions would bear this out clearly. Neither is he doing justice to the smooth working of the State government which by Constitution he is bound to protect, nor is there even a semblance of an attempt to appear impartial. His attitude towards the Tamilnadu Chief Minister and her Ministry is one of unconcealed hostility to the extent of putting the government machinery out of gear. His refusing to sign various files or delaying assent to the proposals sent by the government beyond a reasonable time has, on several occasions, upset the day-to-day functioning of the administration.
But even all this would have passed off as a mere confrontation between the CM and the Governor had the latter confined this conflict to himself, without allowing it to spill over to the political arena. Unfortunately this is not so! The entire episode has attained sinister overtones only because of Dr Channa Reddy’s proclivity to associate himself openly with the Opposition parties who have been repeatedly rendered non-entities by the voters themselves. Not for a moment are we suggesting that a Governor should not meet the Opposition party leaders. What we are saying is merely that such meetings have of late become more of a meeting of minds.
Such an inference is not without basis. For instance, pray, why should the Governor appoint to the Madras University Senate ‘HAND’picked members of Opposition and others whose only qualification is their shared hatred for Ms Jayalalitha? How is it that, while government files fail to see the light of day, Opposition memoranda alleging corruption are dispatched to their destinations in a trice? Why then should the Opposition leaders make a beeline to the Raj Bhavan whenever an issue crops up, unless they are sure of a ‘patient hearing‘ and ‘sympathetic attention’ to their tale of woes?
All these questions and many more would lead us to only one conclusion: That there is more than what meets the eye in Dr Channa Reddy’s close association with the Opposition. Nothing can be more disastrous for a democracy than when a Governor, instead of supporting a people’s government, willingly opts to throw his lot with a discredited set of politicians who have been rejected and relegated to the wilderness, not once but repeatedly, by the voters. There can be no flying in the face of facts, for such indeed is the situation in Tamilnadu.
A man, they say, is known by the company he keeps. The constant company of the Governor and their declared intentions are no secret. Add to this the Governor’s antagonistic postures towards the Jayalalitha government. The cause is there; so is the effect. Can we be faulted for putting two and two together’?
For the depleted, yet power-hungry Opposition, Dr Channa Reddy could not have come at a more opportune time. Having failed in all their attempts to dethrone Ms Jayalalitha. The present incumbent of the ‘Palace of intrigues’ represents their only, nay, last hope. Political opportunism dictates that they make hay while this sunshine, which is only illusory, lasts. And they wait looking skyward, hoping against hope for the ‘man with a mission’ to do his bit in their toppling game. Little do they realise that, Ms Jayalalitha by assuming certain powers under the Business Rules has already pulled the rug from under their feet, rendering their ‘messiah’ ineffective.
TAILPIECE:
For those who think that our very Excellent Governor is only ‘reacting’ to ‘provocations‘, here is something to brood over. Mr Vaithilingam, who is the Chief Minister of Pondicherry (a Congress Chief Minister, at that) does not see eye-to-eye with his Governor, who incidentally is Dr Channa Reddy’s odd coincidence, indeed.
(Concluded)