Sharad GuptaŽJuly 31: Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari and Chief Minister Mayawati met to patch up relations but not before they had used every opportunity to hit out at each other. Sharad Gupta reports on the battle which had turned a farce

There shall be a council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his function, except in so far as he is by or under the Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them, in his discretion.''Article 163 (i), The Constitution of India.

But these two Constitutional functionaries, who have been indulging in a no-holds-barred fight in Uttar Pradesh, are interpreting the Constitution in their own way. While Chief Minister Mayawati wants Governor Romesh Bhandari to be guided only with ``aid and advise'' of the Council of Ministers, Bhandari has taken recourse to ``Governor's discretion'' in their war of one-upmanship.

Trouble between the two started when Mayawati had supported the BJP's demand for the removal of the Governor before she was elected head of the BJP-BSP coalition government in UP on March 21, 1997.

But the first round of the fight commenced when she mentioned in the Governor's address to the State Assembly that law and order had deteriorated during President's rule. Reading out the address in a joint session of both Houses of the State Legislature meant Bhandari admitting his `follies'. The Governor appeared to have swallowed the `insult' in silence though he was saved from the ignominy by agitating Samajwadi Party MLAs who created a ruckus in the Assembly preventing Bhandari to go through the full text of the address.

The second round started when Bhandari, instead of acting on `aid and advise' of the Council of Ministers, decided to lend his advise to Chief Minister Mayawati on Shias' agitation against a ban on Azadari processions in UP in April this year. Bhandari suggested that the bodies of the two Shia youth who committed self-immolation against the Azadari ban, instead of burying in Muzaffarnagar, be brought to Lucknow, but Mayawati took offence to Governor's ``meddling in the State affairs''.

At a press conference, Mayawati accused Bhandari of acting as an agent of the Samajwadi Party chief and Defence Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav. ``He advised me to bring the two bodies to Lucknow only to flare up riots in the State Capital,'' she claimed. Governor again desisted from reacting to Mayawati's charges, lying low, waiting for an opportunity to hit back.

Bhandari did not have to wait for long. In fact, Mayawati herself presented him with an opportunity in May, by trying to nominate Parliamentary Affairs Minister Barkhoo Ram Varma to the Vidhan Parishad. Varma, who was the Assembly speaker during Mayawati's last term in 1995, had lost the election from Sagarhi Assembly constituency in Azamgarh in the 1996 polls. Bhandari refused to oblige Mayawati. He said Varma could not be given a backdoor entry to the Assembly.

Article 171 (V) of the Constitution says: ``Remainder members of Legislative Council of a State shall be nominated by the Governor who shall consist of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as Science, Arts, Literature, Cooperative Movement and Social Service''. Mayawati obviously defined the Article according to her convenience. Bhandari used his `discretion' and refused to nominate a person who had already contested an election to the State Assembly unsuccessfully and sought entry to State Legislative Council by getting defined as `social worker'. This round went to Bhandari as Mayawati had to drop Varma from the list of persons to be nominated to the Council.

The Governor again used his `discretion' and rejected five ordinances sent to his camp office in Nainital by a special messenger on July 16 since the Monsoon session of the Assembly had been convened from July 17. Article 213 (i) of the Constitution says: ``If at any time, except when the Legislative Assembly of a State is in session, the Governor is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require.''

In his cryptic note to the Chief Minister while refusing to promulgate the five ordinances Bhandari said: ``Since the Vidhan Sabha session has already been convened, there is no point in promulgating these ordinances. They should be presented in the House''. This was the second time that the five ordinances had been sent to Bhandari. Earlier in May, he had returned them by suggesting certain amendments. This time, it hurt Mayawati. More so because Article 213 (b) of the Constitution stated that the power to make an ordinance was not a discretionary power and must be exercised with the aid and advice of Council of Ministers. Indeed, Mayawati had taken Cabinet's approval on both the occasion, thus fulfilling the Constitutional obligation. The Governor claimed that since none of them were of emergency nature, they could be tabled in the Assembly starting only a day later.

The Chief Minister, and BJP leaders including Atal Behari Vajpayee, cried hoarse. They said Bhandari exceeded his brief. ``The Governor need not have returned the ordinances. It is against conventions and traditions,'' said Vajpayee. But, Mayawati had to table the ordinances in the Assembly.

Mayawati reacted by swiftly shifting Bhandari's Principal Secretary, Shashank Shekhar Singh, without the Governor's knowledge, which followed an exchange of angry letters between the two. Bhandari, who initially refused to relieve Singh, had to bow to Mayawati's threat of divesting Singh of three additional departments.

Bhandari picked on Mayawati again over the Chhatrapati Shahu Mela on the Kanpur University Ground. Being Chancellor of the University, she should have sought my permission, he said. But, Mayawati went ahead with the mela at the same venue. ``Let him do what he can,'' she said.

The war between the two seems to have subsided for now. And Mayawati met Bhandari for a long chat on July 30 to sort out issues. Although the sparring spree could end for now, the two bigwigs have already set a bad precedent as regards Governor-Chief Minister relations.

Romesh Bhandari

Bhandari cannot return ordinances for he has to act on the ``advise'' of the Council of Ministers and all the ordinances had been approved by the Cabinet.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.