Sir — This refers to the editorial, “SC steps in” (May 19). The role of a Governor has touched the nadir. Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala’s action of giving
15-day window of opportunity to to a party that fell short of eight MlAs to get the majority mark, made the apex court work round the clock. However, his order was drastically modified by the Supreme Court and this helped rescue democracy from the quicksand of horse-trading.
That Vala’s action could have given enough space for horse-trading had been highlighted in a cartoon where it was shown that a man was engrossed in doing a sum of 15 ÷ (112-104) in front of Karnataka’s Raj Bhavan. Must our democracy touch such a lowIJ
There should be an effective legal fence that can stop horse-trading and floor crossing. Otherwise, there will be little value of our voting right in such an environment that has made Transparency International bracket us among the worst offenders in terms of graft in their 2017 report.
In this context, it would be pertinent to point out that India has further come down in the global corruption perception index from 79th position in 2016 to 81st in 2017. Now, it is time either to abolish the institution of Governors or at least limit their powers with clear guidelines to restore the honour of Vidhan Sabhas.