New Delhi, March 6 The Trinamool Congress on Friday said the governor reshuffle across several states reflects the Modi government's disregard for constitutional federalism and has criticized it for turning Raj Bhavans into BJP war rooms.
The party reacted to the appointment of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi as the new governor of West Bengal, replacing C V Ananda Bose, who abruptly resigned on Thursday.
The appointment was part of a major reshuffle of gubernatorial positions carried out by President Droupadi Murmu late Thursday night in several states and Union territories.
Trinamool Congress leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said state governments should be involved in the appointment of governors.
Citing the recommendations of the Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions, he said "state governments must be involved in the appointment of the governor, with the formation of panels recommended by the Sarkaria Commission".
"The Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations recommended that the governor must be appointed after consultation with the State concerned. Who listens?" the TMC Rajya Sabha MP said on X.
TMC's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose said it is "basic grammar of federalism".
"The Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions were clear: state governments should be consulted in the appointment of governors. That's basic grammar of federalism and democracy" Ghose said on X.
"By unilaterally appointing a new governor for Bengal, the Modi government again displays its disregard for constitutional federalism. Raj Bhavans becoming BJP war rooms," she charged.
The Punchhi Commission on reforms in Centre-State relations, under former Chief Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, in a report in 2010 recommended the appointment of the governor be made by a panel, including the chief minister.
The Sarkaria Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjit Singh Sarkaria, had recommended that the chief minister of the concerned state must be consulted before appointment of governor.
Political circles were abuzz with the unexpected resignation of Bose as the West Bengal governor just weeks before the Assembly polls there.
In a communique, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that President Murmu has accepted Bose's resignation.
Talking to