Suspect that my phone is being tapped: Telangana Governor
HYDERABAD, NOV 10: Amidst the ongoing confrontation between the State government and the Raj Bhavan, Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday dropped a bombshell. “I have a doubt that my phone is being tapped. My privacy is being interfered with,” she said, claiming that there was an “undemocratic situation” in the State particularly in respecting the office of the Governor.
Speaking at a press conference at the Raj Bhavan, she said her former ADC (aide-de-camp) Major Tushar Bhasin’s name was taken in the alleged TRS MLAs poaching case by none other than Krishank, a TRS leader, on his official Twitter handle. Clarifying that Tushar had called her a few times to meet her to convey Diwali wishes, she said, “His name was posted on social media that Raj Bhavan is involved (in four TRS MLAs poaching case),” and sought to know why the Raj Bhavan was dragged into the unsavoury episode.
It is pertinent to note that Tushar Vellapally, who had contested against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, was the one allegedly involved in the poaching case. The Governor held the press conference primarily to clarify her stand on the Bills awaiting her nod, especially the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022.
Explaining why she sought clarifications from the government on the Bill, she fired a volley of questions: “First, (if) the new recruitment board is formed, what procedure are you going to follow? How is the board going to be formed? Is it legally endorsed? Is it acceptable to the UGC? Is it fully within UGC norms? What are the procedures? Who will the chairperson be? What is the protocol you are going to form and why a new recruitment board when a procedure is already in place?”
Maintaining that she wanted a transparent recruitment system in place, and not oriented to any party, she contested the government’s claim that the proposed board could expedite recruitments in universities.
Pointing out that some States have boards, which work under the Public Service Commission, she said, “I need people-oriented clarification. For that I wrote a letter… but the minister said I am misleading the people, and they didn’t receive the letter.”
“I am surprised, if a letter from the Chief Minister to reach the minister takes so much of delay, how will the voice of the people reach Pragathi Bhavan,” she wondered and in a direct attack on the State government, said, Raj Bhavan is unlike the Pragathi Bhavan.
In sharp comments on the threat of some students’ joint action committee to stage a protest in front of the Raj Bhavan for the alleged delay on her part in giving her assent to the recruitment board bill, the Governor asked what they had been doing for the last eight years.
She indirectly accused the TRS of seeking to denigrate the Governor’s office by provoking students against the Raj Bhavan. “I appeal to the students, if you want to come to the Raj Bhavan, the doors are open, not like the Pragathi Bhavan. I have democratised Raj Bhavan,” she said.
The differences between the Governor and the State government widened since the second half of last year after she refused to clear Padi Kaushik’s nomination as MLC under the Governor’s quota. The latest flashpoint is the delay on her part to give her assent or return seven bills, which were passed during the last assembly session a couple of months back.
Both the sides at fault, opines former A-G
“The Governor is neither a super auditor nor a super power,” says K Ramakrishna Reddy, Telangana’s first Advocate-General. In an interview with TNIE, he observes that summoning ministers to the Raj Bhavan isn’t appropriate on part of the Governor. The former A-G is of the view that Governors cannot keep Bills pending for months either. In the same breath, he opines that it is incorrect on the part of the government to do away with protocol in respect of the Governor.
-TNIE
