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Senior BJP leaders will meet the President on Friday seeking Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal's immediate recall. This comes a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi letter's to the PM.The Modi government has accused Beniwal of bypassing it while appointing retired Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta.
Once again, the Gujarat Chief Minister is at loggerheads with the Centre on the Lokayukta controversy. Following up on the demand by the Central BJP leadership that the Governor Dr Kamla Beniwal be recalled, Modi has now directly written to the PM seeking her recall. This after Beniwal last week appointed retired Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta without consulting the state government.
In his letter to the PM Modi also demanded that the Lokayukta be annulled. Modi wrote,"The Governor of Gujarat has wrongly appropriated the function of the duly elected State Government which is a major subversion of the Constitution of India and has an important bearing on our system of governance and federal polity of India."
The state Lokyukta is appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Gujarat High Court in consultation with the Opposition leader in the state Assembly and the chief minister.
The BJP alleges that consent from only the Opposition leader was taken into consideration and it has accused the Governor of not taking the chief minister into confidence.
Earlier this week, BJP MPs stalled the House accusing the Centre of interference in state matters.
"The governor has done it at the behest of the Centre," said Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha.
The Congress meanwhile says that the Governor has not done anything wrong.
"The Governor has not done anything wrong," said Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, Congress Spokesperson.
But the BJP is not letting it go, and has sought President Pratibha Patil's intervention.
"We are meeting the President on September 2 and will demand the recall of Gujarat Governor," said Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha.
It remains to be seen if the President will take any action on the BJP's demand. But for now, the battlelines have been drawn as Modi takes on the Centre.
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