NEW DELHI, March 20: Former Uttar Pradesh governor Romesh Bhandari, whose dismissal of Kalyan Singh ministry landed him in a controversy, today suggested that governors should be confined to providing a report on the state of affairs in a state and not recommend imposition or otherwise of President's rule."While the governor sends his report, it is the Cabinet that takes the final decision. The shots are fired using the shoulders of the governor, making him a scapegoat. So, I think that in regard to Article 356, the governor should only sent a report and not give any recommendation," he said in an interview to Star TV. He favoured amending the role of governors in the light of his suggestion.
Suggesting that governor should be given more powers to scrutinise the credentials of ministers, Bhandari said he regretted that he did not question the background and records of the list of MLAs presented to him by Kalyan Singh in October 1997 before proving his majority in the Assembly following the withdrawal ofBahujan Samaj Party from coalition with Bharatiya Janata Party.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
