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Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has initiated the process of sounding
out various leaders about the possible successor to Romesh Bhandari
in Uttar Pradesh. Besides broaching the subject with senior
leaders of the United Front, he has met Satyanarain Reddy, who was
governor in Uttar Pradesh some years ago and Rajasthan governor
Baliram Bhagat, in this connection.
Both are contenders for the hot seat and have the support of
Mulayam Singh Yadav. The former is a Yadav and the latter an
erstwhile socialist who enjoyed an excellent equation with Mulayam
till he was moved to Orissa by P V Narasimha Rao.
The Prime Minister is either serious about transferring Bhandari,
or he is just trying to keep the Communist Party of India (CPI),
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a section of the Congress
happy (and hopeful) three days before the UP debate, slated to be
held in the Lok Sabha on the recall of the controversial UP
governor.
Mulayam, whose concurrence is as essential as the approval of the
Congress, to decide the next incumbent in Lucknow, is also not
against sending K Padmanabhaiah to Lucknow. But the Prime Minister
cannot do without the Home Secretary, who has emerged as Gowda's
trouble-shooter and has excelled in keeping on the right side of
the PM without bothering too much about his immediate bosses.
Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar favoured despatching Shafi
Qureshi, Governor Madhya Pradesh, to UP, and also conveyed his
views to Gowda but Mulayam was not keen on it.
Qureshi had not gone along with the SP leader's ideas on transfers
and postings when he had been given additional charge of UP after
Motilal Vora's exit.
Though Satyanarain Reddy, a one time socialist, is reported to have
made a case against the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh government
days before demolition of the Babri Masjid.
In his report to the Centre, he had apparently argued that sacking
of the then UP Government will lead to destruction of the mosque.
Baliram Bhagat, a former foreign minister, is extremely reluctant
to move to UP, as he views himself as a candidate for the country's
vice presidentship.
One view is to swap Bhagat with Bhandari. That is why, for all his
nonchalance, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is a
worried man. His party's campaign to remove Bhandari in UP may end
up in compounding his problems, though there are few chief
ministers more adept at dealing with tricky situations than
Shekhawat.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister had successfully disarmed the late
Chenna Reddy.
Another name doing the rounds is that of governor of Maharashtra, P
C Alexander. But he too is reluctant to move out of Mumbai. It is
possible that Gowda is taking a leaf out of Narasimha Rao's book.
The more the names, the merrier the game. For it enables Gowda to
throw up his hands in helplessness and say, he tried.
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Comment:
It seems to be accepted that the governor of the UP will be one who
is approved by Shri Mulayam Singh. The criteria for the choice is
not who is the most suitable to tackle the issues facing the state.
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