Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Amid growing instances of run-ins between governors and opposition-ruled state governments, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday said the governor's post should either be abolished or a person of stature who is not into petty politics be appointed by consensus.
Singhvi, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Telangana last week, also weighed in on the repeated standoffs between the Chair and the opposition in both Houses of Parliament and called for reforms to ensure the Chair is not partisan.
In an interview with PTI, the four-time MP said a very big failing of this government is that it "demeaned, devalued and diminished" every institution and there were several instances of governors acting as a second chief executive or a "second sword in the same scabbard".
"Either the governor's post be abolished or by consensus a person of stature who is not into petty politics be appointed," Singhvi asserted.
"Will a person like Gopalkrishna Gandhi do such a thing? I am taking his name, though he was nominated by our party for the vice president's post, but such people who do not cross the limit and do wrong, (either appoint them) or abolish the governor's post," the Congress Working Committee member said.
If the governor becomes a challenge or threat for the chief minister then the governor has to go because elections are held for a CM not a governor, Singhvi said.
"What is happening today is that the governor says I will not pass the bill 8-10 times and ultimately when I go to the court and make sure you have to pass the bill, you refer it to the president. Governance is suffering, actual decisions can't be taken, governor is acting like another chief executive as a second sword in the same scabbard," the eminent jurist said.
The principle that Ambedkar created for governors and CMs of not having two swords in one scabbard, the government is violating that "shamelessly", Singhvi added.
Singhvi's remarks come amid repeated standoffs between governors and opposition-ruled state governments such as in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka.
The senior advocate, however clarified, he was not commenting on Karnataka, where the governor has approved prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah in a case, as the matter is sub-judice and was talking in general about the role of the governor.
On the frequent run-ins between the Chair and the opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Singhvi said it was very sad for him as he cherishes the parliamentary spirit of camaraderie.
"I believe that Central Hall is not a place, it is a concept. I believe in cross-party large-heartedness, magnanimity. I believe genuinely in the characteristics of people like A B Vajpayee and (Bhairon Singh) Shekhawat," he said.
"So with all those genuine beliefs, I feel sad, I feel very tormented. You cannot negate democracy by saying that 'because of strong disagreement, I will suspend over 140 people'. The opposition must have its say and ultimately the government will have its way but for me to have my say and for you to have your way, you must allow that process to work itself out," the Congress spokesperson said.
"You cannot have an artificial Parliament, it is happening in states now also, MLCs are being expelled. There are judgements of the Supreme Court to say that even 'if you are unruly and I am the speaker and I say you are unruly and I suspend you, even the law is that the suspension must be for that session alone. If you go across sessions - one year, it is struck down by the courts'," Singhvi told PTI.
He said there had been instances when people were expelled from the House for being strong and vocal.
"Parliament is Voltaire's place in operation. Voltaire said 'I will disagree with what you say but defend to death your right to say it'... I don't agree with this thing at all what has been happening," Singhvi said on the run-ins and batted for parliamentary reforms.
He cited that in olden days and to some extent now, in England, a person who would be the speaker in the next Parliament is identified and before the elections, other parties will not set up anybody against him or her and he or she will be elected virtually unopposed.
"Now imagine the strength it would give to you to be elected unopposed for the speaker's chair. You genuinely become partyless what (G V) Mavalankar said. The strength is that you are not dependent but that doesn't happen," Singhvi said.
He said reform should be adopted and he is strongly in favour of all parties agreeing that one seat will be given to Mr XYZ and let the person be elected unopposed.
The person can also resign from the party and just like when one becomes president or vice president and never comes back to electoral politics, the same can be the case for the Speaker, Singhvi said.
Asked about polls in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, followed by Jharkhand and Maharashtra, Singhvi claimed the BJP was itself very fearful of polls.
"Otherwise tell me, after so many decades of Haryana and Maharashtra going together, why has Maharashtra been deferred. Give me a single valid answer. Do the seasons of Maharashtra change in 2024, do the festivals of Maharashtra change in 2024. Haryana and Maharashtra have gone together. Everybody knows that these are the states the BJP is likely to do badly," he claimed.
Pointing to the blitzkrieg on the 'Ladli Behna' scheme, Singhvi said it was because of the time needed for that initiative that polls in Maharashtra were postponed.
Level playing field is the heart of free and fair elections and free and fair elections are the heart of democracy and, therefore, democracy is the heart of the basic structure, Singhvi said.
"So (with) these gimmicks, which you think are very clever, you are actually subverting the basic structure," he said.
Talking about the impact of the June 4 Lok Sabha poll results, Singhvi said it was a very "cataclysmic event" given all the hype and the hullabaloo surrounding it as it was a befitting reply by the people or India to the "intersection of extreme degrees of arrogance and a notion of infallibility".
On Modi 3.0, Singhvi said coalition politics is a difficult and painful lesson for Modi 3.0 to learn as it is not in their psyche or nature.