NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress on Friday said the governor reshuffle effected across several states reflects the Modi government's contempt for constitutional federalism and slammed it for turning Raj Bhavans into BJP war rooms.
The party was reacting to Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi being appointed as the new governor of West Bengal, replacing C V Ananda Bose, who resigned abruptly on Thursday.
The appointment was a part of a major reshuffle of gubernatorial posts effected in several states and Union territories by President Droupadi Murmu late on Thursday night.
Trinamool Congress leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said state governments should be involved in the appointment of governors.
Citing the recommendations by the Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions, he said "state governments must be involved in the appointment of the governor with the formation of panels, recommended by Sarkaria Commission".
"Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations recommended that governor must be appointed after consultation with the State concerned. Who listens?" the TMC Rajya Sabha MP said on X.
TMC's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose said it is "basic grammar of federalism".
"The Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions were clear: state governments should be consulted in the appointment of governors. That's basic grammar of federalism and democracy" Ghose said on X.
"By unilaterally appointing a new governor for Bengal, the Modi government again displays its contempt for constitutional federalism. Raj Bhavans becoming BJP war rooms," she charged.
The Punchhi Commission on reforms in Centre-State relations, under former Chief Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, in a report in 2010 recommended appointment of the governor be made by a panel, including the chief minister.
The Sarkaria Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjit Singh Sarkaria, had recommended that the chief minister of the concerned state must be consulted before appointment of governor.
Political circles were abuzz with the unexpected resignation of Bose as the West Bengal governor just weeks before the Assembly polls there.
In a communique, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that President Murmu has accepted Bose's resignation.
Talking to PTI over the phone from Delhi, Bose had said, "Yes, I have resigned. I have been the Governor of Bengal for three-and-a-half years; it's enough for me."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that Bose may have been pressured by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to "serve certain political interests" ahead of the polls.
With Ravi moving to West Bengal, the Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said that Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar will discharge the functions of the Tamil Nadu governor.
As the governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravi, a former deputy national security adviser, was frequently locked in public battles with the M K Stalin-led DMK government in the southern state over different issues.