Trinamool hails SC stance on governors, says post should be abolished

Commending the recent Supreme Court judgment that governors cannot indefinitely withhold bills without action, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has labelled it a "lesson for the BJP-appointed governors" and called for the abolition of the post, asserting that it is time to terminate its existence.

Governors cannot be at liberty to keep bills pending indefinitely without any action, the Supreme Court said, while emphasising that the unelected head of the state is entrusted with Constitutional powers that cannot be used to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by state legislatures.

Observing that unbridled discretion to the governor would "virtually veto the functioning of the legislative domain by a duly elected legislature", a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said such a course of action would be contrary to fundamental principles of a Constitutional democracy based on a Parliamentary pattern of governance.

Expressing gratitude for the Supreme Court's judgment, TMC MP Santanu Sen said, "We thank the Supreme Court for its judgment and feel that the BJP-appointed governors should take lessons from it and stop interfering in the functioning of democratically elected state governments. The BJP is using the governors in an unconstitutional way to disturb the state governments which are being led by non-BJP parties."

Sen also advocated for the abolition of the governor's post, asserting, "This post should be abolished. It will not only stop interference by the Centre but will also stop wastage of public money."

Recent clashes between West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose and the state government, involving issues such as university vice-chancellor appointments, the state's foundation day, withholding of MGNREGA dues by the Centre, and panchayat poll violence, mirror past tensions between the government and former governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, currently serving as the vice-president of India.

In response to the TMC's stance, the Opposition BJP accused the party of unconstitutional behavior. State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, "The TMC is behaving as if Bengal is not part of India. The TMC government for the last few years has not been cooperating with the governor, instead has been using Raj Bhavan as a punching bag for their vested interests."

The top court, in its 10 November judgment, which was made available online on Thursday night, decided on the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, which alleged the governor was not granting his assent to four bills which were passed by the assembly.