Governor scores self-goal over nominated MLC posts

BRS working president KT Rama Rao hit the bull’s eye when he questioned the Governor’s dubbing of Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana as ‘unfit’ for the MLC posts because of their political alignment, because if that was to be considered, the Governor herself was unfit to continue in her post.

Hyderabad: Repeatedly turning the revered Raj Bhavan into a venue for her attempts to score political brownie points over the State government, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan once again faced a severe backlash from multiple quarters on Tuesday for her latest act in rejecting the State Cabinet’s nominations for Legislative Council members under the Governor’s quota. This time however, Soundararajan is also being seen as going overboard with her reasons for the rejection, and in the process, scoring a self-goal by questioning the political affiliations of people in nominated posts.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao hit the bull’s eye when he questioned the Governor’s dubbing of Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana as ‘unfit’ for the MLC posts because of their political alignment, because if that was to be considered, the Governor herself was unfit to continue in her post.

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Addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan on Tuesday, Rama Rao condemned the Governor’s attitude and said the State Cabinet had nominated two individuals with a strong history of public service and social activism, expecting a positive response from the Governor.

“If she really considered the issue from the heart, this would not have been the outcome,” he said, pointing out that Sravan and Satyanarayana came from marginalised sections and questioned Soundararajan’s rationale over rejecting their nominations.

While Dasoju Sravan was a professor with a commendable record in public service, Satyanarayana came from the Erukala community and had a history of serving as a trade union leader at the national level. Both were well-qualified for the positions they were nominated for, he said.

Citing the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendation that active politicians should not be appointed as Governors, the Minister pointed out that the Narendra Modi government had chosen to act otherwise.

“In her letter, she mentioned that we should not nominate people who are associated with politics. I want to ask her, wasn’t she a politician till the last date she took up her governorship? She was the BJP president in Tamil Nadu. She used the word unfit. Who is unfit? You? Modi? Or your party? These two candidates are from backward communities and if we want to make them MLCs, what is your problem? It is the right of the government. We strongly condemn the attitude of this Governor,” he said.

Repeatedly punching holes in Soundararajan’s rationale of political alignment, Rama Rao cited instances where the Modi government had nominated politicians like Jyothiraditya Scindia to the Rajya Sabha under the President’s quota and other BJP leaders who were appointed to Legislative Councils in different States. Both the Congress and BJP, as national parties, were working hand-in-glove in similar appointments across States.

Echoing the public sentiment that the Modi government was undermining democracy by appointing political leaders as Governors who were acting like agents of the Prime Minister, he reiterated his question over the role of Governors in general and whether they were necessary in the country’s current political system, especially when they were obstructing the functioning of elected governments and discrediting their decisions.

“Prime Minister Modi is obsessed with changing names and systems citing them as colonial. As the Governor’s system is also colonial, he must do away with it,” he said, asserting that the BRS would explore all possible options to get the nomination of Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana approved.