Move to remove governors 'dictatorial', says Congress

The Congress Tuesday termed as "dictatorial" the reported move by the BJP-led government to move out governors of some states, saying it was against the very grain of democratic traditions and constitutional propriety.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said in a statement that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was indulging in political vendetta instead of fulfilling its promises.

"The move, if at all taken forward, will be fraught with serious repercussions and that will have a debilitating impact on our constitutional democracy," Azad said.

Referring to the May 2010 judgment of the Supreme Court, Azad said the union government does not have the brief to remove the governors "in arbitrary and capricious manner with the change of power".

The apex court had said in its judgment that a governor cannot be removed on the ground that he is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the union government or the party in power at the centre.

BJP leaders have defended the government's reported move to ask some governors appointed by the Congress-led government to resign.

Party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said governors resigning after change of government was not new.

He said the United Progressive Alliance government had in 2004 replaced some governors appointed by the previous NDA government.

BJP parliamentarian Prabhat Jha said the governors should have resigned on their own after change of government.