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Friday, Dec 03, 2004

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PAROCHIALISM AT ITS WORST

TRUE TO FORM, the Shiv Sena has betrayed parochialism of the worst kind by objecting to the appointment of the former Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, as Governor of Maharashtra. The stated reason for the objection is that Mr. Krishna opposed Maharashtra's territorial claims on Karnataka's Belgaum district. Independent of the merits of keeping alive a boundary dispute decades after the reorganisation of States, the Shiv Sena, in this case, seems to have conveniently forgotten that the Governor has no role to play in such inter-State matters. Quite clearly, the Sena is making a desperate attempt to make political capital out of a non-issue. After failing to take advantage of anti-incumbency sentiments and defeat the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in the Maharashtra Assembly election, the Sena is finding that it has no worthwhile issues to take up against the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government. Falling back on regional chauvinism is the easiest thing to do under such circumstances. Mobilising public opinion on livelihood concerns is doubtless a tough task for a party that was badly mauled in the election just two months ago.

Surprisingly, the NCP, the major partner in Maharashtra's coalition Government, seems to have fallen into the political trap laid by the Sena. Apparently apprehensive that the Sena's tactics might yield political dividends, leaders of the NCP have started echoing similar sentiments against Mr. Krishna's appointment. This apart, the NCP in its own way is also protesting the absence of consultations in the appointment of the Governor. As a major ally, the NCP expected the Congress to take it into confidence. However, the Congress went by other, typically Congressite political considerations. The appointment removes the 72-year-old Mr. Krishna, a political heavyweight, from the scene of Karnataka politics where his presence might have become inconvenient for the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) Government. Mr. Krishna and the JD (S) leader, Deve Gowda, are not known to be on good terms. Moreover, the presence of a senior leader and former Chief Minister on the treasury benches might inhibit the style of a first-time Chief Minister. On the positive side, Mr. Krishna enjoys a good rapport with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was earlier in charge of Karnataka as an observer of the All India Congress Committee. For the NCP, these considerations matter little. All the same, it should have realised the folly of toeing the Sena line of opposition to the appointment of Mr. Krishna.

One of the arguments made against the appointment is that it breaks a hitherto little known convention that Maharashtra would not have Governors from Karnataka and vice versa. True, Maharashtra has not had a Governor from Karnataka in the recent past, but this can hardly be held up as a convention. It is common enough for a State to have a Governor from a neighbouring State regardless of any dispute between the two States. Thus Kerala has had Governors from Tamil Nadu, and Tamil Nadu has had Governors from Andhra Pradesh. The only longstanding convention is that the Governor should not be from the State to which he or she is appointed. This is to ensure that Governors, many of whom are drawn from the political class, do not become deeply involved in the partisan politics of the State. Given the limited role of Governors in the Indian federal system in the post-1994 period, after the Supreme Court's historic judgment in the Bommai case, and given Mr. Krishna's track record, there is no basis for any apprehension that the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai will become a centre for any kind of partisan politics. By raising this issue, the Sena has raised its chauvinism to new levels of absurdity.

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