Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have decided to defy the Centre's directive to resign.
Sources said the BJP leadership advised them not to follow the new regime's diktats because strong technical and constitutional reasons favour their continuance in office and that it would not be easy for the United Progressive Alliance Government to remove them.
Article 156 of the Constitution says: "The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President." A senior Home Ministry official said there was a laid-out norm for appointment of a Governor even as the Constitution merely states that the "Governor of a state shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal".
He said if the Government wished to remove a Governor, it would have to follow the same pattern as established for the appointment of a Governor. The Home Ministry would have to prepare a proposal and papers to this effect, bearing the Home Minister's signature, would have to be sent to the Cabinet Secretariat for the Prime Minister's approval. After it is signed by the Prime Minister, the proposal would then be sent to the President advising him to "discontinue his pleasure" for a certain Governor.
It could have served the purpose if one Governor was to be removed, but if the number is more than one, the President could return the proposal to the Government with a query. The President, seeking a clarification, could embarrass the Government, giving the Opposition an issue, to take political mileage out of it. The political leadership of the UPA Government is worried on this count and therefore, has not taken a hasty step so far, as desired by a section of Congress leadership, the sources said.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani and Deputy leader of the BJP parliamentary Party Jaswant Singh on Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue. Home Minister Shivraj Patil later joined them. The BJP leaders are planning to meet President A P J Abdul Kalam to apprise him of the situation.
Sources said the discussion was candid and that the Government's view on the issue was put forward by Mr Patil. The BJP leaders carried certain papers with them to substantiate their argument as to why the Governors appointed by the previous NDA Government should not be removed due at the whims and fancies of the UPA regime. Mr Advani told the Prime Minister that when the Vajpayee Government came to power in 1998, it sought to establish a fresh norm that Governors, even the political appointees, are not removed just like that. The then Uttar Pradesh Governor, Romesh Bhandari, had resigned on his own.
Mr Advani reportedly gave a list to Dr Singh, which had names of political leaders mostly from the Congress and other appointees including Mahavir Prasad, Mata Prasad, Krishnapal Singh, FAR Kidwai, PC Alexander, Balram Bhagat, Fatima Bibi, Rama Devi, Justice Kang and others, who were Governors in different states when the NDA came to power six years ago. They were not replaced but shifted from one state to another.
Sources said Mr Patil intervened and said there were some complaints against Haryana Governor Suraj Bhan, who was reported to have made some controversial remarks during the run-up to the parliamentary elections. The President had then sought clarifications from the Government on the issue. Based on a report from the Haryana Governor, the Home Ministry had replied to the President's queries. The Home Minister said the Government had received some complaints against UP Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri but it was apparently not of substance.
The BJP leaders argued that this
could not be the basis to remove them.