Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari pens his ‘Mann ki Baat’ to PM Modi, expresses his desire to step down

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Mumbai: Against the recent clamour from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for his resignation, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday said he had conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi his desire to step down from political responsibilities during the latter’s visit to Mumbai last week. 

In a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan here, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who has been in the eye of the storm for his allegedly controversial remarks against great personalities of Maharashtra, expressed his desire to spend the rest of his life by reading, writing and in “other activities”. 

In his tweets, Governor Koshyari remarked, “It was an absolute honour and privilege for me to serve as the Rajya Sevak or Rajyapal of a great state like Maharashtra – the land of saints, social reformers and valiant fighters.” 

In a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan here, the Governor said, “I can never forget the love and affection I have received from the people of Maharashtra during the last little more than three years. During the recent visit of the Prime Minister to Mumbai, I conveyed to him my desire to be discharged of all political responsibilities and to spend the remainder of my life in reading, writing and other activities. I have always received the love and affection from the Prime Minister and I hope to receive the same in this regard.” 

The development comes a fortnight after Governor Koshyari at a function reportedly commented that the Governor’s role had brought only ‘unhappiness’ to him. 

Since November last year, the Governor has been facing fierce criticism from the opposition MVA parties (Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction – UBTS) for allegedly calling the 17th century Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj “an icon of olden times.” 

It may be recalled that during his speech at the Dr. Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad in the presence of Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari in November, Governor Koshyari had said that while Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an “icon for an earlier era”, Nitin Gadkari was an icon for the modern generation.   

This had given the opposition ammunition to train their guns on Governor Koshyari. The descendants of the Chhatrapati – BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale and former BJP MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati – both demanded his resignation. This had followed a massive demonstration on part of the three MVA parties against Governor Koshyari. 

Governor Koshyari has frequently been accused by the MVA as a partisan of the BJP – has courted controversy from his remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji.     

Last year, he was slammed by the MVA and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly mocking 19th century social reformers Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule for “getting married at a young age”. He also stoked controversy when he said Samarth Ramdas was Chhatrapati Shivaji’s ‘guru’ contrary to historical evidence. 

Commenting on his wish to step down, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Nana Patole said that any decision on the Governor could only be taken by the President and that the latter ought to “remove” Governor Koshyari from his post for his controversial remarks and conduct. 

The ruling BJP, on the other hand, said the MVA had unfairly rallied against the Governor by deliberately taking his remarks out of context.  

Ever since he was appointed to the post in September 2019, Governor Koshyari has had a love-hate relationship with the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. 

Governor Koshyari has been accused by the opposition MVA of deliberately stalling and violating the constitution by avoiding taking a decision on filling up the vacant posts of 12 Governor Nominated members in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) which has been pending for over two years now.