LUCKNOW, March 16: Close on the heels of the appointment of Atal Behari Vajpayee as the prime minister, Uttar Pradesh's controversial Governor Romesh Bhandari quit today -- months after his bitter feud with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to a head with the dismissal of the party's government in the state.Addressing a press conference at the Raj Bhavan, Bhandari, who sent his resignation letter to President K R Narayanan, said that he thought it "fair" to quit as the BJP did not have faith in him.
Bhandari, who was appointed UP Governor on July 19, 1996, said, "Since the Bharatiya Janata Party does not have faith in me and now that Atal Behari Vajpayee has been appointed the next prime minister, I have thought it fair enough to tender my resignation from the post," he said.
Bhandari declined to divulge the text of the resignation letter to the press, adding that "it is a confidential document and hence it cannot be made public."
Bhandari, whose removal was demanded by the BJP following hisdismissal of the Kalyan Singh ministry and installation of Jagdambika Pal as the chief minister, said, "I had taken the two decisions within the Constitutional framework and they were all fair, objective and impartial."
He termed as "politically motivated and unfair" Vajpayee's charge that he had undermined the Constitution and democracy by dismissing the BJP-led government in UP.
Asked if he considered it wrong that Governors should be dragged into political controversies, Bhandari said that they should be kept above petty politics as their role was purely that of a Constitutional head. He added that a Governor should be allowed to complete his term in spite of a change at the Centre.
Asked about his plans, he said, "I intend to remain active throughout and I cannot rule out the possibility of my entering active politics." Bhandari said he would write a book mainly based on his experiences during his tenure as Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Bhandari's resignation climaxed 18 months of strained relationsbetween him and the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh ever since the previous Assembly elections in the state threw up a fractured verdict in October 1996.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
