Will Governor Tamilisai become Telangana's Kiran Bedi?
Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao found a true friend in E.S.L. Narasimhan, who served as governor of Telangana/Andhra Pradesh for ten years before demitting his office on September 7. KCR, as Rao has come to be popularly known, managed to get his pound of flesh for Telangana by lobbying with the governor. When he was at war with his then Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu, Rao found an outlet in the governor. This camaraderie was in full public view when the chief minister and his cabinet accorded Narasimhan a warm farewell.
When 58-year-old Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed as Narasimhan’s successor by the Modi 2.0 government, it seemingly brought to an end KCR’s bonhomie with the gubernatorial office. Her recent tweet considering the possibility to establish 'praja darbars' is a clear indication in this direction.
On September 17, ten days after assuming charge as the first female governor of the country’s youngest state, Tamilisai's tweet said she favours praja darbars while responding to a request made by Majlis Bachao Tehreek spokesman Amjed Ulla Khan.
Also Read: To Advance Hindutva Message, BJP Sets Stage for Telangana Liberation Day
For KCR, no red carpet will be laid at Raj Bhavan. The chief minister's relationship with the governor will depend on the relationship his party has with the Centre. In his first term, the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) and the NDA-led by Narendra Modi had a "give-and-take” relationship. Short in numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the NDA needed KCR just as much as KCR needed the Centre.
However, his ambition for a bigger role in national politics propelled him to float the 'Federal Front' as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress. In the run-up to the general elections earlier this year, KCR even tried to reach out to prospective allies, hoping for a hung parliament. This irked Modi, and after shoring up the NDA's numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP has expressed confidence that it will come to power in Telangana by 2023.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting in New Delhi
Credit: PTI
Kiran Bedi, a 1972 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, earned her name as a tough cop during her service. In her later avatar as the Lt. Governor of Pondicherry, she proved to be a hard nut to crack for the Congress and chief minister Narayana Swamy.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, a medical practitioner by profession, has had a similar trajectory. She came from a Congress family, and her father Kumari Anandan was an MLA from the grand old party. But she chose to embrace a rival, Hindutva nationalist party in a state that has been dominated by Dravidian politics. The grit she demonstrated in strengthening the BJP’s base on the home turf of regional parties endeared her to Modi and Amit Shah, who saw her fit for the gubernatorial office in Telangana.
A tool in the opposition’s hands?
A day after the praja darbar announcement came from the Raj Bhavan, a delegation of Congress legislature party (CLP) leaders met the governor. They requested her to take a fresh look at the demand for disqualification of12 of its MLAs who defected to the TRS. Narasimhan had paid no heed to the CLP’s demand for them to be disqualified.
Also Read: Telangana: Jolt to Congress as 12 MLAs Seek Merger of Legislature Party With TRS
Rao has been accused by his critics of being inaccessible to the people. Rivals have said that he 'runs' the administration from his farmhouse. The BJP's Telangana unit is spearheading a campaign against the KCR government, accusing it of corruption in irrigation projects such as Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha. The party's MP D. Aravind, who represents Nizamabad, alleged that one of KCR’s cabinet colleagues is involved in illegal mining activities in north Telangana. The governor’s praja darbars are expected to provide an outlet to the BJP and the other opposition parties to take aim at the TRS government.
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan was accused of helping the TRS. Credit: PTI
No constitutional bar on praja darbars
Madabhushi Sridhar, a former central information commissioner, told The Wire that there is no provision in the Constitution barring governors from holding darbars. “As the head of the state and a representative of the constitution, the governor can interact with people to bring public grievances to the government's notice,” he said.
The constitutional position apart, analysts say the governor’s praja darbars will likely be aimed at embarrassing the KCR government. “Given the political context in which the idea has been floated, wittingly or otherwise, it will be a weapon in the hands of the opposition. Any action from the Raj Bhavan to embarrass the elected government is unconstitutional,” says analyst K. Nageswar.
The undivided Andhra Pradesh had the history of having governors who courted controversy. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi was accused of toppling the N.T. Rama Rao government by engineering a coup within the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with the help of governor Ram Lal. Subsequently, NTR pitched a demand to remove the office of governor for healthy Centre-state relations. Kumudben Joshi, a senior Congress leader who was later appointed as AP governor, was also accused of turning Raj Bhavan into a Congress office by the TDP.
Will Tamilisi function differently, given her explicit and active political background? One has to wait and see.
Gali Nagaraja is a freelance journalist who writes on the two Telugu states.
This article went live on September twenty-fourth, two thousand nineteen, at zero minutes past six in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
