Governor's post should be done away with, has become burden on democracy: Manish Sisodia

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said the governor's post should be scrapped as the institution has become a "burden on democracy", and stressed that the governors' job was only to obstruct the functioning of governments being run by non-NDA parties.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters in New Delhi, Sisodia, who stepped out of Tihar jail on Friday after being granted bail in the excise policy case, said bureaucrats in Delhi are suffering due to the tussle between the lieutenant-governor and the elected government and he "felt sorry" for them.

The LG's office and the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) dispensation in Delhi have had run-ins on several governance issues.

"The tussle between the LG and the Delhi government is because of the murder of democracy. The rights of elected government were taken away by the Centre. When there is murder of democracy, all stakeholders are affected. Even the officers of the government are suffering and I feel sorry for them," the senior AAP leader told PTI.

Sisodia, who resigned as deputy chief minister of Delhi following his arrest in February last year, opined that the governor's post should be scrapped.

"The post should be done away with. Why do we need a governor — to administer the oath to the elected government. That can also be done by other institutions. What is their job apart from toppling governments? What are they doing apart from this?

"Governor as an institution has become a burden in this country. They are not doing anything apart from obstructing the work of the elected government. Hopefully, a solution will be found to this problem," he opined.

He felt that not only was the issue persisting in Delhi but had led to problems in other states too like West Bengal, Kerala, etc.

"This trend is going on in the whole country and leading to dictatorship. Dictatorship is causing losses in Delhi and also in other states. Governors are being appointed only on the basis of their capabilities to obstruct the work of elected government," he alleged.