As an array of governors are to take charge in new terms in several States and in the Union Territory of Puducherry, it might as well be the time for the ruling BJP-led NDA to reset the ways in which they will function in their constitutional posts rather than operate as biased agents of the Centre.
Have there been suggestions of a newer and, should we say, smoother approach to federalism in the functioning of States in which governors do have a role as the eyes and ears of the ruling party in New Delhi? There should be, considering how much the political scene has changed since the mixed verdict of the Lok Sabha polls of 2024, necessitating, once again, the formation of a coalition government at the Centre rather than the one-party rule of the last 10 years.
Contentious issues have invariably arisen in states which are ruled by non-BJP and non-NDA governments. While this has been historically true for decades now, particularly in States not ruled by the party in power at the Centre, whether it was the Congress-led UPA or the BJP-steered NDA, it is apparent that various issues have cropped up in governors going beyond their constitutional remit more often in more recent times, say in the last 10 years.
A few governors, seen to be reluctant to sign legislation passed in the Assembly into laws, have been known to take undue shelter by referring bills to the President to further delay the process after sitting on the legislation in the guise of having them examined by legal experts on their constitutional propriety or simply returning the bills for reconsideration without assigning strong reasons for doing so.
It is undeniable that governors have taken to finding fault with non-BJP governments in many states, particularly Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Kerala, where bills have been held up and have, in fact, become the subject of legal action by the affected states, with cases now being heard in the Supreme Court.
Notwithstanding the expression of deep dissatisfaction with the actions of a few governors, including one who was outright pulled up for acting against federal principles in referring a plea for remission of a Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict to the President instead of signing on the will of the Assembly, there have been actions by governors that have tended to deny the spirit of cooperative federalism that is supposed to rule the relations between the Centre and the states.
In fact, the excesses of Governors’ actions in unwanted commentary on affairs of the state and interference by way of refusal to clear bills have been such that calls for doing away with the office of the Governor, a colonial legacy, have been strident.
Abolition may, however, constitute a step too far and is meant to be taken only as a reminder to governors that they should act in the spirit of cooperation in a federal setup. And, in any case, eliminating the governor’s office would need a unanimity of thought and action among the many leaders of the ruling alliance and the Opposition, an impossibility in these highly polarised times.
A few governors, who did not see eye to eye with states on how they function, have moved on or been moved out while senior leaders are coming in with greater political experience who might help smoothen ties in a fractious environment, especially at this time when the NDA with a Narendra Modi 3.0 government has just taken office.
