Sankaranarayanan, who moved out of Raj Bhavan on Sunday and will leave for his home state Kerala on Monday, said he was overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by the people of Maharashtra and would now focus on working for the Congress.
In his interaction with the media, Sankaranarayanan did not criticize PM Narendra Modi or the NDA government for his abrupt transfer. "It's the prerogative of the Centre. Since the post of governor is constitutional, its prestige and status must be maintained,'' he said.
Even before he received the official communication shifting him to Mizoram, Sankaranarayanan had told TOI that he would "not stick to the position of governor, bearing the disgrace (of being shunted to a smaller state)".
He has ruled out moving court against his transfer, adding that he had never indulged in politics ever since embarking on his gubernatorial career as governor of Nagaland in 2007. "I was always impartial. I was friendly with all parties, including the Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena,'' he said.
Sankaranarayanan was the first governor to protest against home secretary Anil Goswami's message asking him to resign. Goswami had telephoned him on June 11. Sankaranarayanan had felt it was wrong for the home secretary to tell a governor to resign as he had absolutely no authority. "The governor is app ointed by the President of India, it's a constitutional post, as such any decision for the removal or transfer of a governor has to be communicated by the President only,'' he had observed on June 15. Following his firm stand, other governors on the PMO's 'hit-list' had taken an identical view and refused to oblige.
Sankaranarayanan was appointed governor of Nagaland on February 3, 2007, was shifted to Jharkhand on July 26, 2009, and took over as governor of Maharashtra on January 22, 2010. When his term ended on April 28, 2012, he was appointed for a fresh term of five years.
As governor of Maharashtra, he was friendly with leading politicians and was the most accessible governor the state had seen. As chancellor of universities, he was instrumental in appointing 20 vice-chancellors. The only controversial decision he took was when he refused permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute former chief minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh scam. He maintained that there was inadequate evidence against Chavan.
While the state Congress condemned his transfer, saying it was humiliating, senior Shiv Sena and BJP leaders expressed shock and surprise. "We never expected it, as his term was to expire in April 2017. We never expected he would be shunted out in such a manner,'' a Congress leader said.
via Top Stories - Google News http://ift.tt/1zo1XVQ
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment