The tug of war between State Government and Raj Bhawan is likely to intensify as Opposition party BJP has jumped in defence of Governor CP Radhakrishan terming the remarks of Assembly Speaker, Rabindra Nath Mahto as unconstitutional. A BJP delegation on Tuesday met the Governor at Raj Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to him along with the clippings published in the newspapers, saying that the Speaker had made indecent remarks against the Raj Bhavan. State President and MP Deepak Prakash said that unparliamentary and unconstitutional statements are being made continuously by the Speaker, the Chief Minister and the people holding constitutional posts in the government.
Recently, Jharkhand assembly speaker, Rabindra Nath Mahto, has accused the Raj Bhavan of working at the “behest of BJP” by blocking crucial bills passed by the state government in the vidhan sabha.
While the ruling coalition for long has been alleging that the governor's house is being “partisan” on several occasions, the speaker’s frontal attack against the Raj Bhavan came openly for the first time when scores of job seekers have been protesting since the last many months against the local employment policy, which was devised on the 60:40 reservation ratio. Opposition BJP, on the other hand, lashed out at the speaker for “demeaning” his constitutional position by directly pointing fingers at the governor and termed it as “unconstitutional”.
Mahto, who is an MLA from the Nala assembly seat, is currently in his constituency and he made the remarks during a public meeting held on Sunday. Several JMM workers, too, were present at the meeting.
Prakash alleged that it seems that it has become a part of ruling coalition and state government conduct and behaviour to make unconstitutional remarks against the Governor. “On June 26, the way the speaker made serious allegations directly on the Raj Bhavan while addressing JMM workers under the banner of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. This is completely against the dignity and decorum of his post. The post of president is neutral beyond party and politics. But all the limits are being violated by the present Speaker of the Jharkhand Assembly. In such a situation, legal action should be taken against them,” Prakash said. Apart from Deepak Prakash, MP Aditya Sahu, MLA CP Singh, party officials Dr. Pradeep Verma, Balmukund Sahay and state media in-charge Shivpujan Pathak were also present in the party delegation.
Deepak Prakash said that it is the constitutional responsibility of the Governor to get legal information from the government on any bill, to take legal decisions in the interest of the state. This is not the first time but it has happened with many bills in the past as well. But looking at a constitutional action through party prism and miss propagating it is a complete violation of constitutional norms.