Gujarat Lokayukta appointment rocks Parliament

BJP termed it "undemocratic" and accused Governor of violating the federal structure

PTI | August 30, 2011


Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi

The appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat rocked Parliament on Tuesday, with an agitated BJP terming it as "undemocratic" and demanding recall of Governor Kamla Beniwal accusing her of violating the federal structure.

BJP members created uproar in both Houses over the issue.

Lok Sabha failed to transact any business as it was adjourned, first till noon and then till 2 PM. Rajya Sabha saw similar scenes during Zero Hour and had to be adjourned till 2 PM.

Congress tried to counter by raising the acquittal of all 12 accused in the murder case of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.

"We are going to approach the President seeking recall of the Governor," BJP veteran L K Advani said in the Lok Sabha amid frequent interruptions by a section of Congress MPs from Gujarat who had been finding fault with the state government.

Raising the matter, he said while the Constitution provided that the Governor would act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, it was violated in case of Gujarat as the Governor appointed the Lokayukta without consulting the chief minister.

"Therefore, it is a fit case to be taken up by the House.

Parliament can take note of it. We will raise the matter with the President. We will seek recall (of the Governor)", Advani said.

It was similar story in the Rajya Sabha where leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley alleged that "this constitutional crisis has been created at the behest of those in power in Delhi... This Governor should not stay in office even for a minute."
 
BJP members alleged that the appointment was a breach of federal principles and accused the Governor of acting at the behest of the UPA government at the Centre. The Gujarat Governor had appointed R A Mehta as Lokayukta without consulting the Narendra Modi government, they said.

In the upper house, Jaitley contended that the Governor had notified the appointment of Lokayukta "without the aid and advice" of the council of ministers in the state.

Congress members from Gujarat raked up the issue of the murder of senior BJP leader Haren Pandya in the wake of the Gujarat high court acquitting all the 12 accused of murder charges. Pandya, a former state Home Minister, was shot dead on March 26, 2003.

The Congress members waved photographs of Pandya and indulged in heated exchanges with their BJP counterparts, who were agitated over the issue and were showing placards like 'Stop the Murder of Democracy in Gujarat' and 'Raj Bhavan in Gujarat has become Congress Bhavan'.

Countering the BJP in Lok Sabha, Jagdish Thakor (Cong) accused the Modi government of "catching the innocent and not the guilty" and alleged that law and order had completely failed in Gujarat.

"Haren Pandya was brutally murdered. 60 bullets were pumped into him and the real killers are roaming around scot-free", Thakor said referring to the acquittal of all the accused in the case.

Earlier, when the House met for the day, BJP members created uproar over the issue, forcing its adjournment till noon.

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