Raj Bhavan counter questioned wanting to know where is the proof of communication and who was informed. Raj Bhavan was told that the file was pending in Mantralaya.
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Mumbai: A full scale war of words has erupted between the office of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the Governor having to fly to Dehradun using a private commercial flight, instead of the state government aircraft on Thursday morning.
The state government in an official clarification issued here has pinned the blame on the Raj Bhavan administration and has even gone to the extent of warning of fixing of responsibility on Raj Bhavan staff for having made the Governor undergo such an embarrassment. The government claimed that it had informed the Raj Bhavan about the no decision being taken about availability of the state government aircraft yesterday itself.
In turn the Raj Bhavan has shot back at the MVA government wanting to know who at the Raj Bhavan was communicated about it and when. Sources argued that the Raj Bhavan administration had constantly been in touch with the state administration. Telephonic calls were made and each time the Raj Bhavan authorities were informed that the official file was pending for approval with the concerned government department in Mantralaya.
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“The government could have informed anyone at the Raj Bhavan, the Principal Secretary or the Transport department at the Raj Bhavan. But they did not. Show us the proof, who was informed and when? In the issue of delegation trying to meet the Governor over the farm laws, the Governor’s office had shown proofs of WhatsApp messages and official letters of communication that the Governor had prior official engagements in Goa that day. In the present case there was no official communication from the government”, sources added.
The state government in its clarification argued that it was not at fault for the Governor getting held up at the airport. It added that the Raj Bhavan authorities ought to have verified whether the permission was granted or not. It added that the set protocol is that written permission is sought and after the same is granted the official aircraft is made available. Accordingly on February 10, Raj Bhavan was informed that so far the permission to use the state aircraft has not been granted by the government.
The state government further stated that after ascertaining whether the permission has been granted or not, then only the Raj Bhavan authorities should have brought the Governor to the airport. It further added that the authorities at Raj Bhavan ought to have taken due precaution while dealing with a person occupying the high office of the Governor.
Meanwhile, state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrakant Patil slammed the MVA government for having denied access to the state aircraft to the Governor. In a statement released here, Patil termed it as “petty minded” attitude of the government. He added that since the government is not elected by the people, they have adopted an adamant attitude of doing things as they pleased as they are not answerable to the people.
The Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday morning was forced to deplane the official Maharashtra Government aircraft at CSIM airport in Mumbai. The Governor was on his way to Dehradun in Uttarakhand to preside over the official programme of the Valedictory Function of the 122nd Induction Training Programme of IAS officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie, Uttarakhand on the morning of Friday, February 12. However, the pilot of the official aircraft simply refused to take-off forcing the Governor to get down. The Governor finally had to board a private commercial flight to Dehradun.
