Articles

Are India’s Governors Non-Partisan?


Unofficially known as the rubberstamp, being governor of a state is a very lucrative post-retirement job. Various emoluments, allowances and privileges available to a governor are determined by the Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Act, 1982. According to the rules established in 2006, governors are entitled to a monthly salary of Rs 1,10,000, rent-free official residence often with a summer or winter holiday home thrown in which would put a millionaire’s villa to shame, free household facilities and conveyance. The governor and his family are provided with free medical attendance, accommodation and treatment for life.

According to the Constitution, the governor is appointed by someone considered an even bigger rubberstamp – The President of India, which is to say that thePrime Minister’s Officepractically gets to distribute the Raj Bhavan bungalows to people of its own will. The post of governor is usually given to politicians who have lost elections and have little chance of ever returning to power on their own. Sometimes, loyal Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service officers who have delighted their political bosses are rewarded at the end of their term by being made governor.

It is often alleged that the governors owe their political allegiance to the political party in power or the party they have been members of. Is this really the situation across all states? Or is it just a political accusation which makes sense only for gaining brownie points?

Given below are the governors of various states and their backgrounds.

State/UTGovernorBackgroundCategorised as
Andhra PradeshE. S. L. NarsimhanIPS Officer. Served as First Secretary at Moscow Embassy. Worked as Director in Intelligence Bureau until 2006. Was inducted after the earlier governor, N D Tiwari had to resign.Bureaucrat
Arunachal PradeshNirbhay SharmaAfter 40 years in the Army, he was appointed Member of Union Public Service Commission to select officers for Civil Services. He is a defense analyst.Bureaucrat
AssamJanaki Ballabh PatnaikChief Minister of Orissa from 1980-1989 and 1995-1999.Congress politician
BiharD Y PatilMaharashtra politician known for opening numerous educational institutes in Maharashtra.Congress politician
ChhattisgarhShekhar DuttIAS officer, retired as Defense Secretary of India. Was then appointed Defense National Security Advisor from 2007-09.Bureaucrat
GoaBharat Vir WanchooIPS officer considered close to Gandhi family. Served as Director of SPG (Special Protection Group) in 2004 for a two year term (that extended till 2011).Bureaucrat
GujaratKamla BeniwalHeld many portfolios in Congress governments in Rajasthan. Was named in the Rs 1000 crore Jaipur Development Authority Scam.Congress politician
HaryanaJagannath PahadiaChief Minister of Rajasthan from 1980-81, had been a junior level minister in the Central government for many years. Wife was a Congress Member of Parliament from Rajasthan.Congress politician
Himachal PradeshUrmila SinghCabinet Minister in Madhya Pradesh till 2003, she also served as MP Congress Committee Chief in 1996-98. Became Governor of Himachal Pradesh in 2010.Congress politician
Jammu and KashmirNarindar Nath VohraIAS officer. Served as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister IK Gujral, headed the National Task Force and India International Centre. His first action as Governor of J&K was to revoke the controversial Amarnath Shrine land transfer order.Bureaucrat
JharkhandSyed AhmedFrom Nagpada, Mumbai. Was elected to Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha 5 times on a Congress ticket.Congress politician
KarnatakaHansraj BharadwajLaw Minister in UPA 1.Congress politician
KeralaNikhil KumarFormer Commissioner of Delhi, and Chief of National Security Guard. His father was Bihar CM, mother was an MP, grandfather was Deputy CM. Became an MP in 14th Lok Sabha.Both
Madhya PradeshRam Naresh YadavWas CM of UP from 1977-79 from Janata party. Joined Congress following this.Congress politician
MaharashtraK. SankaranarayananServed as minister in Kerala in several Congress-led governments.Congress politician
ManipurV.K. Duggal IAS officer from Union Territory cadre, 68-year-old Duggal of 1968 batch was Home Secretary from March 2005 to April one, 2007.Bureaucrat
MeghalayaK K PaulDelhi Police Commissioner from 2004 to 2007. Later joined UPSC as a member in 2007. Responsible for modernising Delhi Police and launching ‘Parivartan’ in the national capital.Bureaucrat
MizoramVakkom PurushothamanCongress Minister from Kerala and Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2001-04.Congress politician
NagalandAshwani KumarDGP of Himachal Pradesh in 2006-08 and CBI Director from 2008-10.Bureaucrat
OdishaS. C. JamirFour time Chief Minister of Nagaland, led his party Progressive United Democratic Front to merge with Indian National Congress.Congress politician
PunjabShivraj PatilWas Home Minister. Resigned after 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.Congress politician
RajasthanMargaret AlvaClose advisor to Sonia Gandhi. Stripped of her post of General Secretary after she alleged that Congress tickets in Karnataka are up for bidding.Congress politician
SikkimShriniwas Dadasaheb PatilFormer IAS officer. Contested elections on an NCP ticket in the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha.Both
Tamil NaduK RosaiahAndhra Pradesh Finance Minister.Congress politician
TripuraDevanad KonwarCongress stalwart from Assam.Congress politician
UttarakhandAziz QureshiMinister in Madhya Pradesh Government in the 70s.  Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary.Congress politician
Uttar PradeshBanwari Lal JoshiPart of the state police in Rajasthan. Worked in different administrative positions including Home Affairs with PM Lal Bahadur Shastri and PM Indira Gandhi. Worked in High Commissions of India at Islamabad and London.Bureaucrat
West BengalM K NarayananWas the Intelligence Bureau Chief during Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. National Security Advisor to PM in 2005-10.Bureaucrat
Andaman and Nicobar IslandsA K SinghFrom the Armoured Cops. Retired this year as Chief of Southern Army Command in Pune.Army
ChandigarhShivraj PatilAdministrator of Chandigarh.Congress Politician
Dadra and Nagar HaveliB S BhallaIAS officer. Handled various departments of Andaman and Nicobar islands as Secretary. Now serving as Administrator for the Union territory.Bureaucrat
Daman and DiuB S BhallaNow serving as Administrator for the Union territory.Bureaucrat
DelhiNajeeb JungIAS officer. Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Interestingly, Delhi does not have a Governor despite being a state.Bureaucrat
LakshwadeepH. Rajesh PrasadIAS officer from the 1995 batch. Was Collector of South Goa and Deputy Commissioner of South Delhi and Commissioner of DDA.Bureaucrat
PuducherryVirendra KatariaGeneral Secretary and President of Indian National Congress in Punjab. Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab from 92-98.Congress Politician

The analysis shows that over 50 per cent of the Constitutional posts are occupied by members of the Congress party or their allies. One should of course assume that after taking oath of office, the individualwould not indulge in any party activity thereafter and would remain non-partisan while discharging duties as Governor/ Lieutenant Governor. Yet, given the era of coalition politics where governments depend on the governor when calling for the Vote of Confidence, there is little guarantee that their decision would be considered impartial by all parties. There would always be doubts and allegations of working at the behest of some political party or the other.

The statistics raise another question. Does the party at the Centre always want a person from their party in charge at the state level as well? If not as head of Executive, then at least as Constitutional head of State? There is no guarantee that the BharatiyaJanata Partyor the Third Front will not repeat the phenomenon if it comes to power. It might just be time to review the procedure of selection of governors and stop making the Constitutional post a retirement job for politicians who are well past the expiry date of serving their political purpose.

The author can be contacted at anandwalu@gmail.com

Also Read