Shiv Sena spokesman and MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday accused Maharashtra governor BS Koshyari of blocking several decisions taken by the state government due to “political pressure”.
Raut claimed that an “open war” is going on between Raj Bhavan and the Maharashtra government due to pressure from the BJP and accused the Centre of using governor BS Koshyari to “pressurise” and “destabilise” the state government, The Times of India reported.
“It’s not a cold war. Cold war is carried out clandestinely. This is an open war. Raj Bhavan is being used for political purposes by BJP. This war is not only between the governor and the state government. BJP is using Raj Bhavan,” the TOI report quoted him as saying.
Raut’s statement comes a day after the Shiv Sena, which is in power in Maharashtra, Koshyari of toeing the BJP’s line, and said that if the Centre wants the Constitution to be upheld, it should recall him.
The party also asserted that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation is stable and strong, and added that the Centre cannot use the governor’s shoulders to take aim at the state government “Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is back in news again.He has been in politics for the last many years. He was a Union minister and also the chief minister of Uttarakhand. However, ever since he became the Maharashtra governor, he has always remained in news or landed in controversy,” the Sena said in an editorial in mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“Why he is always landing in controversy is a question. Recently, he is in news over the use of a state government’s plane. The governor wanted to go to Dehradun using the state aircraft. But the government denied permission to it. He sat in the aircraft on Thursday morning, but as the plane did not have approval to fly, he had to disembark and take a commercial flight to Dehradun,” it said.
“The opposition BJP is creating an issue out of it. But why did the governor sit in the plane even as the government had not given its approval for it to fly, the party asked. It was a private tour of the governor and as per the law, not only the governor, but even the chief minister cannot use a state plane for such purposes. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has acted in accordance with law,” it said.
“But Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis accused the state government of being egoistic. The country knows who is indulging in politics of ego. Despite the death of over 200 farmers during the ongoing protest on Delhi borders over the three farm laws, the government is not ready to withdraw them.Isn’t that ego?” the Uddhav Thackeray-led party asked.
“A governor should pursue the agenda of the government of the day and not that of the opposition, it added. The Sena also criticised the delay in governor’s approval of 12 names recommended by the state cabinet for their nomination to the Legislative Council from his quota. The governor is acting like a puppet,” it alleged.
