Federalism at stake in Karnataka

THE chaos in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday is a new low in the raging conflict between Raj Bhavans (now rebranded as Lok Bhavans) and elected governments in states where the BJP is not in power. Governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s decision to confine his customary address to a few lines — discarding the text prepared by the Council of Ministers — has triggered a storm whose impact is being felt far beyond the Congress-ruled southern state.

The Governor’s address at the start of the first House session of the year is a constitutional convention — rather than a personal statement, it’s expected to be a formal articulation of the state government’s policies and priorities. Gehlot, who delivered a self-drafted, truncated speech before walking out, is being accused of acting at the Centre’s behest. The bitter confrontation comes close on the heels of similar incidents in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Such discord, which has become common in recent years, has fuelled the perception that the Governor is increasingly being used as a tool of political one-upmanship rather than a non-partisan bridge between the Centre and the state. The Governor has the right to raise objections to a draft address, but constitutional morality demands that such disagreements be resolved through dialogue; a faceoff on the floor of the House should be avoided at all costs.

Governance inevitably suffers when governors and state governments work at cross purposes. This is not merely a clash of egos but a litmus test of cooperative federalism. According to the Centre, the name “Raj Bhavan” has been scrapped as it reflected a colonial mindset. The new term, “Lok Bhavan”, will be truly befitting if public interest always takes precedence over political wrangling. Both power centres must respect the mandate of the people.