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This paper strives to bring out the emerging conflict in Indian democracy in context to the role of governor. The governor is the constitutional head of the state who is appointed by the President on the recommendation of Council of Ministers. He plays an imminent role as a crucial link between the Centre and the states. But with the appointment of the party-men for this gubernatorial office, the conflicts between the governors and state governments have escalated. The partisan role of governors create hindrance for the democratically elected government in the states by misusing their powers. These conflicts between the Governors and the state governments hamper the core principles of our democracy and cooperative federalism in India. So, there is an urgent need to bring out some reforms in the office of Governor.

The objective of this paper id to study the role of governor in the emerging conflicts in Indian democracy.

According to the Indian Constitution, the Governor plays a dual role in a state. First, he acts as the chief executive head of the state and second, he serves as the crucial link between the Centre and the state, paving the way for cooperative federalism. But the role of Governor has become a controversial issue especially in recent times which has shaken the roots of Indian democracy. Different political parties at the centre have misused the office of Governor from time to time for fulfilling their partisan interests against the will of the people. The conflict has been seen between the centrally appointed Governor and elected government of states on various occasions since independence.

The controversy on the role of Governor started after the fourth general elections held in 1967 when the Congress could not make government in most of the states because of the emergence of regional political parties in various states. “While the office of the governor remained free from public controversy during 1950-67 it became highly controversial after the fourth general elections of 1967 which ushered in an era of coalition politics.” (Sethi, 2018, p.237-238) In the changed circumstances, the states started putting allegations on the office of the Governor as the centre’s impingement in the administration of states. The controversy has become more apparent in recent times especially after the sixteen general elections in 2014 when the single largest party, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) came to rule in the Centre. “After about quarter of a century (1990-2014) of relative calm, the governor’s role and powers have again become a controversial issue in Indian politics.” (Chatterjee, 2020) The main controversies related to the Governor have been around the issues of appointment of Chief Minister, determining the time for proving legislative majority, taking long time in giving assent to the bills, reserving bills for the consideration of President, commenting on the policies of state government, inappropriate use of Article 356 and exercising power of the Governor as the Chancellor of state universities. The discretionary powers of the Governor are the main cause of disputes between the Governor and the state government. This proves to be harmful for the spirit of democracy and cooperative federalism in India.

The Governors have been appointed on the basis of political consideration and the person who can act as the agent of the centre have been chosen for the post of the Governor. It has also been seen that if any political party comes in the power at the centre, then the Governors are removed even before the completion of the term. The main reason behind this is the ambiguity in the phrase “during the pleasure of the President” enshrined in the Indian Constitution. (Constitution of India, 1950, p.63)

Various commission and committees have been set up to make recommendations for redefining the office of Governor like Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966, Rajmannar Committee of 1969, Governor’s Committee of 1970, Sarkaria Commission of 1983, National Commission to Review the Working of Constitution of 2000 and Punchhi Commission of 2007. “All of them more or less agreed on the point that the image of the Governor as merely an agent of the Centre sitting in state capitals, desperately seeking an opportunity to run down the state government when it is in the hands of the party opposed to the party ruling at the Centre or trying to bring about a government of the same party as at the Centre, will be very dangerous to our federalism and democracy.” (Parihar & Singh, 2021, p.1)

The Governors are fulfilling the commands of the centre which is disgracing the dignity of the office of Governor. It is also suppressing the will of the people who choose the state government through adult suffrage. There is a need to revitalize the role of Governor in Indian political system to uphold the spirit of democracy in India. The harmonious relationship between the Centre and the states is also essential for maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation.

Various Bases of Conflicts between Governor and State governments

The governor plays a vital role in the functioning of states in India. He is the constitutional head of the state as well as a link between the centre and the states. Just like the President of India, a governor is the nominal head of the state and chief minister is the real head of the state like the Prime Minister of India at the central level. The governors used their discretionary powers more frequently and hence were called as Agent of the Centre. It has been seen that governors have arbitrarily used their powers to create the difficulties for state governments owned by opposition parties. “The year 2014 marked the beginning of a new phase in the deterioration of relations between Governors and State governments in India.” (Issac, 2022) The present regime has added fuel to the fire in context of the conflicts regarding the role of governor in Indian politics. The main conflicts related to the role of governor have been in the states where opposition parties hold power. “The South and opposition-ruled states like West Bengal and Punjab find themselves embroiled in disputes with governor’s offices, at a time when bills passed by BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat are being assented to in a day or two.” (Brittas, 2023) The recent controversies between the chief minister and governors in different States and union territories such as Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Delhi & Puducherry, where the governor has violated his or her constitutional position, have given the proof of conflicts in Indian democracy.

The main areas of the conflict regarding the role of governor are as follows:

Appointment of Chief Minister in a Hung Assembly

According to Article 164 of the Indian constitution, the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor. Generally, the governor has to invite the leader of the party who secures majority in the elections. But if no party gets a clear majority in the election of the state legislature then the governor has to use his discretion to appoint the Chief Minister. This situational discretionary power of the governor has often been misused to favour a particular political party. The governors of Goa and Karnataka took different decisions in the same situation of a hung assembly. In 2017, when the situation of hung assembly occurred in Goa after the elections, the governor invited the alliance led by the BJP which had more seats as compared to the single largest party (Congress). However in 2018, in the same situation of hung verdict, the Karnataka governor invited the single largest party (BJP) instead of the coalition with a clear majority. (Parihar & Singh, 2021, p.5)

In Maharashtra Assembly elections of 2019, no party got the majority. At that time, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of Chief Minister to DevendraFadanvis of BJP without a majority. However, Fadanvis resigned shortly after and a new government was formed under the leadership of Shiv Sena’sUddhav Thackrey. But due to the split in the party, his government could not complete the term. (Jha, 2023)

These actions of the governor have raised a question on their role and they have been called as a puppet of the centre. There is a need to form some uniform guidelines regarding the discretionary power of the governor in appointing the chief minister.

Power to give Assent to the Bills passed by the State Legislature

Under Article 200 of the constitution, the governor has the power regarding the bills passed by the state legislature. He may give his assent to the bill, withhold his assent, return the bill for the reconsideration or he may reserve a bill for the consideration of the President. “Article 200 makes clear that a Governor has discretion in giving assent to a bill.” (Shukla, 2008, p. 106)

The recent cases of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Punjab are the glaring examples of the misuse of this power by the governor. The governor in these states have not given their assent to the bills and have kept the bills pending for an indefinite time period which has aroused the controversy between governor and state government. “The framers of the Constitution would never have imagined that Governors would sit on Bills indefinitely without exercising any of the options given in Article 200.” (Achary, 2023) The state governments have reached to the Supreme Court as this inaction of the governor on the bills is undermining the spirit of democracy and hampering the functioning of state legislature. The Chief Justice of India stated during the hearing of a petition filed by the Punjab Government, “The Governors should not be oblivious of the fact that they are not elected by the people.” (Rajagopal, 2023) These actions of the governor jeopardizes the mandate of the people and the autonomy of the states.

Dismissal of a minister from Council of Ministers

The Indian constitution gives the power to the governor to dismiss a minister according to his discretion as the Council of Ministers remains in the office during the pleasure of the governor. But before dismissing the minister of Council of Ministers a governor should consult with the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers retains the office during the governor’s pleasure, and just as his extending of pleasure is not justiciable his withdrawing it too is not subject to any scrutiny, parallel or superior including the judicial one. (Maheshwari, 2000, p. 48)

In June, 2023 Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi dismissed the minister V SenthilBalaji from the Council of Ministers “with immediate effect” without the recommendation of the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister M K Stalin said that governor has no power to dismiss the minister and decided to face this legally. (Mariappan, 2023)

In October, 2022 Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan informed the Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan that he has withdrawn the pleasure in K N Balagopal who continues to be a member in the State Cabinet. But the CM rejected the Governor’s demand to remove the minister from his Cabinet. (Kumar, 2022)

Interference in day to day State Administration

It is the provision in the Indian constitution that the governor can seek the information related to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation. It is the duty of the Chief Minister to provide the information to the governor regarding the state administration under Article 167 of the Indian constitution. (Constitution of India, 1950, p.67) But the office of governor has been disgraced due to interfering in day to day administration unnecessarily. In certain cases if a political party ruling in the state is not in good terms with the party at the centre then the central government tries to interfere in the administration of the state by misusing the office of the governor.

There have been many allegations on West Bengal Governor for excessive interference in the functioning of legislative assembly. The Governor JagdeepDhanakhar had been accused of summoning the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police on a regular basis. He often mentions the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Twitter. He has alleged wrongdoing in social programs and disputed government assertions about investments in the state. (Tripathi, 2022, p.1204)

“Former Lt. Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi, who emerged as a principal political rival of then CM V Narayanswami, broke with the convention by addressing the public shortly after taking office. In a second strategic move, she opened the gates of Raj Niwas to the public to hear their grievances; as a result, the government of the UT accused her of running a parallel government.” (Ahire.et al, 2023, p.773)

Power of Nomination in Legislative Council

The Governor can nominate “persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of matters such as literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service” to the Legislative Council. (Shukla, 2008, p.102) But in this nomination the governor has to take advice from the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

The Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari had refused to accept the recommendations of the Council of Ministers on the nomination of 12 members to the legislative council until the matter reached the High Court. (Tripathi, 2022, p.1204) In 2016, during the tenure of Akhilesh Yadav as the Chief Minister of UP, the Governor Ram Naik rejected the five names that were suggested by the state government for nomination as members of Legislative Councils and asked the government to send the fresh names. (“Uttar Pradesh Governor”, 2016)

Special Address to the Assembly

The governor has to address the state legislative assembly or in the case of a state having a legislative council, both houses assembled together at the commencement of the first session every year.  Generally the governor has to read the full text prepared by the Chief Minister and the Cabinet.

In January 2023, the governor-government tussle intensified in the Tamil Nadu assembly with the chief minister M K Stalin registering the objection over governor R N Ravi digressing from the prepared speech. The governor also walked out of the house after the assembly passed resolution to put on record only the original speech that was prepared by the state government for the governor.(Mariappan, 2023)

“The DMK and its allies say that the Governor is trying to impose the dictates of the Central government on the Tamil Nadu government, which is unnecessary in a federal system of governance.” (Jha, 2023)

President’s Rule (Article 356)

The governor has the discretionary power to recommend the President’s Rule under Article 356. According to Article 356, the governor has the power to send the report to the President that state’s constitutional machinery has broken down or that the state cannot function in accordance with the constitutional provisions. However such powers have led to the conflicts from time to time. The power to submit report to advise the president to proclaim President’s Rule in the state has been abused by political parties in power in the centre to dismiss governments in states governed by parties in opposition. “Undoubtedly, the Governors have failed to maintain the required standards of parliamentary etiquettes and allowed themselves to be a party in the process of misuse/abuse of Article 356.” (Awasthy& Kaushik, 2008, p.221)

In 2016, the Governor of Uttarakhand recommended for President’s rule without providing a chance for the ruling party to prove the majority on the floor of the house which was later turned by the High Court.

“In 2016, President’s Rule was imposed in Arunachal Pradesh by the governor that became a bizzare incident. However, the governor’s decision was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and ordered for restoration of Congress government.” (Ratha & Sinha, 2021, p.780)

“The Bommai judgement of Supreme Court made Article 356 largely a ‘dead letter’ as Dr Ambedkar had hoped. But still, events in several states even after the Bommai judgement show that the temptation to use governor’s office for partisan political purposes continues to haunt our polity.” (Narayan, 2017, p.424) The inappropriate use of Article 356 is detrimental to the state machinery and delays the administrative functioning of the state.

Commenting on the policies of the elected government

The trend of commenting on the policies of the state government has also exacerbated the conflicts between the governor and elected government of the state.

The Governor of Kerala continues to make political statements against the policies of the elected government. In Kerala the CPI (M) Left Democratic Front government and the Governor Arif Mohammad Khan are at each other’s loggerheads regarding various issues. The CM of Kerala PinarayiVijayan has accused the governor of working against the constitution and democracy. (Jha, 2023) The governor’s frequent use of his powerful oratory to defend the centre and question on the state on sensitive topics makes him partisan and undermines democratic process.

As a Chancellor of State Universities

The governor is the ex officio chancellor of the state run universities. In this capacity, he has the power to appoint the Vice Chancellor of state universities. But there have been many instances when governors and state governments have got into conflicts regarding the selection of Vice Chancellors.

In 2018, the Tamil Nadu governor faced the criticism for appointing Vice Chancellors without consulting the state government. A fresh conflict has emerged in October 2023 between Tamil Nadu Governor R.N Ravi and the state government over the appointment of Vice-Chancellor to 3 universities.

In October 2022, the conflict between Governor BanwariLalPurohit and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has further escalated with the former making biggest statement over controversy of Vice Chancellor’s appointment. (Kohli, 2022)

The latest controversy arose in Kerala after the Governor sought the resignation of several Vice Chancellor following a Supreme Court judgement setting aside the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of a technology university. (Jha, 2023)

Reasons for arbitrary use of power by governor

The Governors have been accused of using their power in an arbitrary manner from time to time which has put a question mark on the dignity of this August office. The governor is appointed by the President unlike the state government headed by the Chief Minister which is elected by the people of the concerned state through adult suffrage. Thus, the governor is not responsible to anyone for his actions taken as the executive head of the state. The governors are often appointed on the basis of the political considerations and the persons who can act at the political will of the Centre have been chosen for the post of Governor. “It is observed that ex-politicians with significant ties with the ruling party in the Centre are generally appointed as the head of the states. These appointees are ideologically entrenched to their previous political affiliations giving rise to frequent tussle between them and the elected state governments.” (Indurkhya, 2021)

It has also been observed that, if any political party comes in power at the Centre then the governors are removed even before the completion of the term. “An examination of the tenures of Governors between 1950 and April 2015 shows that only 18 per cent of the tenures of Governors were of 5 years and another 8 per cent were of between 4 and 5 years. It means that the majority of Governors do not complete their full 5 year term.” (Pankaj, 2017, p.25) The main reason behind this is the ambiguity in the “doctrine of the pleasure of the President” enshrined in the Constitution of India.

The governor holds the position during the pleasure of the President which indicates that there are no legal grounds for the removal of the governor given in the Indian constitution. The doctrine of pleasure of President denotes the pleasure of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at the central level in real sense. The state governments have no say in the removal of the governor from his office even if he is not exercising his powers according to the constitutional values. So they are not apprehensive about their removal as long as they are fulfilling the interest of the party ruling at the centre.

It has been seen that the party ruling in the centre misuses the office of governor to destabilise the state governments which are in its opposition. Every party wants domination in power. The party ruling at the centre pressurises the governor to exercise his discretionary powers according to its political interest. This creates a rift between the state government and the governor. “The Central government who is at the Centre always tries to pressurise the State Government that belongs to the opposition party which is immoral and goes against the democratic nature of the country making it partially authoritarian.” (Ratha and Sinha, 2021, p.782)

The governor is the constitutional head of the state but the politicization of this office has been done at large. The governors have become the bone of contention between the centre and the state which is a negative sign for the cooperative federalism in India. “Criticism has also been levelled that the Union Government utilizes the Governors for its own political ends. Many Governors, looking forward to further office under the Union or active role in politics after their tenure, came to regard themselves as agents of the Union.”  (Chaudhry, 2010, p.110)

The governors are using their discretionary powers in a despotic manner resulting in the reduction of the autonomy of the states in administration. The state government is chosen by the people of that state through adult suffrage but it is compelled to act according to the wishes of the central government through the office of the governor. The delay in giving assent to the bills by the governor reflects that the authority of the state government to make laws for the people is taken away. “But such gubernatorial interference would be necessary only very rarely and the expectation, contrary to the reality, is that its procedure should not be misused to ‘cold storage’ a bill fairly passed by the state legislature.” (Chatterjee, 2022) The state government shows the will of the people as it has come into power on the basis of people’s mandate. If a governor reserves a bill for the consideration of the President then, the President is not bound to give his assent. He can withdraw his assent and the bill would not be able to become an act. “If an elected government cannot legislate, it could lead to a breakdown of parliamentary democracy.” (Raman, 2023) The reservation of the bill by the governor to the President is used as a trick so that the bill is lapsed without being enacted.

Article 356 is also the major obstacle in the way of cooperative federalism. The members of the constituent assembly thought that this article would be used sparingly and in urgent situations only. But contrary to their opinion, this article has been used maliciously to impose President’s rule in the opposition ruled state governments to overthrow them from power. The state government which is elected through people’s mandate is ousted through the use of Article 356 with the help of governor’s report submitted to the President. This is a setback for the democratically elected government in the states as can be seen from the examples of Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The capricious acts of the governor have adversely affected the day to day functioning of the states. The tussle regarding the role of governor is reaching to the Supreme Court which has put question on the prestige of this gubernatorial office. The governors have started commenting on the policies of the elected governments in the state which is also creating the rift between the governor and the chief minister in various states. The demands for abolishing this office are on rise due to the unreasonable acts of the governor. “There are demands to reframe the position of the governor and even to abolish it since it sometimes considered as a burden to the state without having any kind of accountability.” (Ratha & Sinha, 2021, p.782)

“The Sarkaria and Punchhi Commission reports covered the three problems of nomination and removal, tenure, and discretion—which are at the centre of this debate—in great detail.” (Jain, 2023, p.124) The governors are being appointed on the basis of party affiliations and hence they are following the orders of the centre and working against the values of the constitution. They are working against the will of the people in the state which is hampering the very spirit of democracy. There is an urgent need of revitalising the role of governor to maintain the autonomy of states.

The office of the governor holds an important place in the Indian political system. He plays a very imminent role by acting as the chief executive head of the state as well as link between the centre and the states. The office of the governor was retained by the makers of the constitution keeping in view to maintain the unity and integrity of the nation as many states were demanding autonomy after independence. The position of governor has been deteriorated gradually since the centre is being ruled by the single largest party and it has been able to form the government in many states. But the problem persists in the state where opposition parties have formed the government. So in the context of relation between the centre and states the governors are facing difficult situations.

The politicisation of this gubernatorial office has been done by the centre in order to make control over opposition led state governments. The governor is the connecting link between the centre and states so it is necessary to prevent political chaos led by the misuse of the office of governor. In a democratic system like India the role of governor should be impartial. Since we have adopted the parliamentary system at the state level so the office of the governor cannot be abolished. But there should be some conventions which need to be adopted for the appointment and conduct of the governor to maintain the cordial relations between the centre and the states. The eminent person should be appointed on the post of governor as prescribed by the Sarkaria Commission and the Chief Minister should be included in the consultation while appointing the governor.

The governor should be a non-partisan person so that he will be able to bring the stability in the administration of the state. The governor should be like the philosopher king of Plato who should be wise so he would try to sort out the differences between the ruling party in the centre and the opposition party’s government in the states. It is very essential that in the changed political circumstances, effective parliamentary conventions should be developed in regard to the functions and power of governor. The governors should carry out their responsibilities with honesty and faith and try to preserve and defend the constitution.

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