Coimbatore, Nov 15: The opposition’s fury against the Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s interaction with the Coimbatore district officials on Tuesday grew significantly more intense when he literally took the broom at the city bus stand in a bid to join the Swachh Bharat programme on Wednesday.
He took part in a mass cleaning programme while overseeing the progress made in Swachh Bharat scheme in Coimbatore district. Solid waste management programme is also part of his agenda on Wednesday.
The Governor also threw open his doors to any 'willing' political parties to meet him, but it appears that the sulking and suspicious politicos chose to stay clear, barring Minister S.P. Velumani and S.R. Balasubramaniam, MP (AIADMK) who spent less than 20 minutes with him. But several prominent local citizens and NGOs met the Governor and shared views on the happenings in not just the city and the western region but also the entire state.
Significantly, just after being sworn in as Governor of the state on October 6, Mr. Purohit promised the people of Tamil Nadu: “I will ensure cleanliness in administration.” This statement assumes significance at a time when all opposition parties are raising a volley of corruption charges against the AIADMK government here.
Mr. Purohit landed here yesterday to attend the 34th convocation of the Bharathiar University and held discussions with the district officials including Collector T.N. Hariharan and Corporation Commissioner Dr. Vijayakarthikeyan. This has set off a debate over whether the Governor overstepped his Constitutional remit and was interfering in the affairs of the district administration.
Opposition, including Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy (who belongs to the Congress), has termed his actions as “undemocratic and unconstitutional”. Mr. Narayanasamy, who has been facing “similar” issues in his own State with an open conflict with Puducherry’s Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, minced no words in describing the TN Governor’s actions as an “attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP to subjugate the States”.
Interestingly, while Mr. Velumani, the local AIADMK Minister who is in charge of Municipal Administration, found nothing wrong in the Governor reviewing the functioning of the district, his party MP Anwar Raja slammed the Governor for “acting beyond his brief and against the federal concept of Indian constitution”.
Minister D. Jayakumar also slammed the Opposition for making politics out of Governor Purohit's good intentions in undertaking the review at Coimbatore. “There is nothing wrong with what the Governor did. It's for the people”, he said at a public meeting at Chennai late Tuesday evening.
But the Governor himself took the mike at a function that he attended this morning here and referred to the ‘furore” over his interaction with the officials. The Governor claimed that his visits were intended to “see and appreciate” the efforts of the State Government. “How can I say something about the administration unless I review what it is doing. I will definitely convey this to the Chief Minister when I meet him”.
He further announced that he proposed to tour the districts to familiarize himself with the administration and also the problems.
This writer has seen a similar direct action by Mr. Bhishma Narain Singh, former Governor of Tamil Nadu, when the State was under President’s rule in 1990. The Governor took Mr. Surjit K. Chowdhary, the Collector of Salem District, and other officials to identify the areas facing serious water scarcity and he immediately issued orders to mitigate the situation.
DMK acting President M.K. Stalin said it was time to protect the “autonomy” of the State and urged the Governor to drop such reviews. “If at all he wants to improve the administration, he should take it up only with the Chief Minister", he added.
Former Union Minister G.K. Vasan said: “Whatever is done by the Governor should be within the powers conferred on him by the Constitution. He should not go beyond that. Of course, it is for the Chief Minister to consider this issue”.
BJP State President Tamilisai Soundararajan, who strongly defended the Governor’s actions, said: "We should look at the meetings in a positive manner. Just because there is no precedent, it doesn't stop a Governor from meeting officials for the welfare of the state.”
She said this was not the first time Mr. Purohit has been an active participant in the State administration. “When there were floods in Assam he actively participated in the rescue operations as well,” she contended.
According to her, the Governor “has done nothing wrong. He has not abused his powers by discussing the developmental activities taken up in the district”.
Traditionally, the governors, who are basically representatives of the union governments, maintain a distance in the state administration and rarely meet the state officials or political party leaders.
All the meetings are mostly confined to the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor and that too only during times of political emergencies like the sitting Chief Minister losing confidence of a section of his party MLAs. While there are already accusations that the Narendra Modi-led union government is interfering in administration of state governments and curtailing the state autonomy, the unprecedented meetings by the Governor today has raised several eyebrows.
Objecting to Governor Purohit's meetings in Coimbatore, CPI (M) G. Ramakrishna said: “This only proves, yet again, that the government here is under the control of the BJP and is acting as its handmaiden”.
A bureaucrat said: "In the last few decades, TN Governors and Chief Ministers have had an amicable relationship. But I wonder if a CM like Karunanidhi or Jayalalithaa would have allowed this ?"
And it would be wrong to draw comparison with what Kiran Bedi was doing in neighbouring Puducherry as Constitution gave the Lt Governor in Union Territory vast powers akin to a CEO. Governor Purohit does not enjoy that kind of luxury, yet he chose to step out of the conventional gubernatorial garb to undertake what he believed would help the people.
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said: "It is unconventional and unnecessary for the Governor to intervene in administration. In Delhi and Puducherry, at least there is a justification for governors intervening in government administration since they are Union territories."
DMK MP and Organising Secretary R.S. Bharati alleged that the BJP was trying to repeat in Tamil Nadu what it has done in other states, terming it as “completely unacceptable.”
The public, however, seemed happy with the Governor's initiative to take interest in the administration, recalling his promise “to ensure cleanliness in administration”, even if that seemed 'unconventional'.
“We only hope the Governor holds similar review meetings in all districts and also with the Ministers and officials here in Chennai”, said noted rights lawyer Sudha Ramalingam. “We, the people, are convinced there is no point in merely paying blind obeisance to the Constitution; we must honour its spirit by delivering clean and efficient governance”, she said.
“There is a system of checks and balances and there is nothing wrong in the Governor getting to have first-hand knowledge of how the administration is going on”, she added.