Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has sent a letter requesting the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee for his immediate intervention for replacement of acting Governor of Assam Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya.
In the letter to the President that was dashed off on Saturday, Gogoi said that the continuance of PB Acharya as in-charge Governor of Assam would cause immense difficulty in functioning of parliamentary democracy system and create fissures in the secular ethos of the State.
“We had welcomed Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya to our State as we presumed that being a high Constitutional functionary, he would conduct himself fairly, cautiously and circumspectly.”
“However, I am pained to say that ever since assuming office, His Excellency, the Governor of Assam, through his actions, has steadily lowered the prestige of the institution of the Governor,” Gogoi said.
Illustrating several instances in which the present incumbent ‘steadily lowered the prestige of the institution of the Governor’, Gogoi stated, “Acharya made a shocking public statement that ‘Hindustan is for Hindus’ on November 21 last.”
“His statement has created uproar across the Nation with almost all sections of society condemning his utterance and the ideology behind it.”
He added that such remarks reflected the unacceptably divisive and communal mindset of an incumbent holding a high constitutional post and such an utterance was in flagrant violation of the secular tenants of the Constitution.
Citing another instance, Chief Minister Gogoi said that Governor Acharya unilaterally altered a panel of six names belonging to the unrepresented communities as nominated members submitted by the Bodoland Territorial Areas and recommended by the Council of Ministers and replaced four of the names with nominees of his own choice.
“Aggrieved by this act of His Excellency, the Governor of Assam, the BTC filed a Writ Petition in Gauhati High Court and the latter kept the notification issued by the State Government in abeyance,” Gogoi mentioned.
Gogoi further pointed out that the Governor in his capacity as Chancellor of Assam Agricultural University (AAU) constituted a three-member committee to probe into the allegations against Vice-Chancellor Dr. Kamal Malla Bujarbaruah based on a complaint petition that eventually irked members of seven associations.
“The institution of the enquiry was challenged in the Gauhati High Court which then suspended the operation of the notification constituting the enquiry committee,” he added.
The chief minister also brought to the notice of the President regarding nomination of 10 members to the Court of Dibrugarh University by Acharya in his capacity as the Chancellor of the university.
“Contrary to statutory norms of the university, the Governor of Assam nominated four members to the Court of Dibrugarh University who hardly have any academic distinction other than being office bearers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or its sister organizations.”
“The Governor of Assam ignored deserving persons from Assam with brilliant educational background and sound social reputation and instead nominated people from other States by virtue of their affiliation with the RSS,” Gogoi stated in his letter.
Gogoi further stated in his letter about the meeting Acharya had with a delegation of the BJP headed by the then State President, Siddhartha Bhattacharjee at Raj Bhawan on September 21 last.
“It is clear from video footage of the meeting aired on local TV channels that during the discussions, the Governor of Assam was advising on BJP’s political strategy like a senior BJP executive rather than acting like a Constitutional functionary.”
“While the Governor of Assam may certainly interact with a delegation of a political party, it is shocking that the high office of governor has been converted to an annexe of the BJP office,” Gogoi said.
Expressing his disenchantment at the ‘arbitrary and biased actions’ of Acharya and his communal utterances, Chief Minister Gogoi said, “These incidents have been a big disappointment to me.”
