Governor Banwarilal Purohit took a little extra interest in governance in Tamil Nadu last week and stirred up a hornet’s nest. Unlike his predecessors who treated the post as decorative, Purohit chose to hold review meetings with officials in Coimbatore and participated in a Swachh Bharat campaign, drawing howls of protest from the Opposition. The governor convening such a meeting amounts to interfering in the state administration, which is not good for Centre-state relations, said DMK leader M K Stalin.
While the BJP predictably supported Purohit as did Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, saying he was not reviewing state projects, the Opposition saw in it the possibility of creating two power centres.
Parallels were drawn with Puducherry
Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and how she routinely steps on the toes of the elected government headed by CM V Narayanasamy. And Bedi promptly defended Purohit, saying he is doing in letter and spirit what the leadership in Delhi wanted governors and lieutenant governors to do, which is to connect with the people. “What is otherwise the governor for? To be in a large prison of a governor’s house? If you cannot connect, you are in prison,” she quipped.
Way back in 2009 when Narendra Modi was Gujarat chief minister, the UPA government had appointed Congress leader Kamla Beniwal as governor. As Kamla started getting nosey, Modi had written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 demanding her immediate recall. In his letter, Modi said the governor cannot interfere in the functioning of the state. Citing Sarkaria Commission’s recommendation for states where opposition parties are ruling, he said the Centre should not appoint politicians as governors. What applies to Gujarat should surely be valid for Tamil Nadu, the Opposition argued.
But Purohit appears unfazed. As of now he has just listened to the briefings. Problems could arise if and when he takes critical positions. There is a thin line between intervention and participation that he ought not to cross.