At a time when the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi and the ruling BJP-BSS government are engaged in daily cross-fire, Ramesh Bais has a tough task cut out as the Maharashtra Governor.
Bais, the former Jharkhand Governor, is taking over the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai at a time when several of the actions and decisions of his predecessor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had come under question.
Bais comes to Maharashtra with huge experience — from being a municipal councillor to an MLA of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, as a seven-time MP from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, a minister in the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the Governor of two states — Jharkhand and Tripura.
Read | Ramesh Bais leaves behind legacy of political showdowns in Jharkhand
Koshyari, 80, had regular showdowns with the Sharad Pawar-crafted Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance which kept the BJP out of power for two-and-a-half-years before being toppled by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde with the help of the national ruling saffron party.
Bais, 75, is no stranger to political showdowns and he had his own share of tiff with the Hemant Soren-led alliance government.
The immediate task after taking over would be on February 27 when he would deliver the customary address to the joint sitting of the Maharashtra legislature on the opening day of Budget Session.
Before he took charge, the MVA had alleged that Koshyari has used the Raj Bhavan as an extension of the BJP office.
Among the issues that the tri-party anti-BJP coalition has raised against him include the imposition of President’s Rule in October-November 2019, and the hush-hush swearing in of Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, for a government that lasted for three days.
After the Thackeray-led government came to power, the government regularly had run-ins with the Koshyari.
Read | Koshyari's tumultuous relationship with the MVA
After the MVA was toppled, the leaders of the coalition also questioned the swearing in of Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister when disqualification proceedings were pending against him.
Koshyari had also kept pending the names the MVA dispensation recommended to fill 12 seats to the Council from the Governor’s quota.
As far as the political situation is concerned, the elections to local bodies, including those of big cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Amravati and Aurangabad, are around the corner and will be followed by the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.
Koshyari has come under fire from the Opposition for his statements vis-a-vis legendary figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj which landed him into a major controversy and finally he had to express his desire to get relieved of the accusatisons.