Making a reference to governor Margaret Alva in a war of words between the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP has irked Raj Bhavan. Ms Alva has expressed her displeasure over it. She said her name should not be dragged into such war.
“It is an election year, It is obvious state will witness a cross-firing between the two, but she should not be dragged into such cross-fire,” she said.
The governor made such comments while interacting with mediapersons on Monday at Raj Bhavan in presence of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. It was an occasion when the governor inaugurated a new building dedicated to tribal welfare cell.
Her comments have been taken as a reaction to former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s recent statement at her Suraj Sanklap Yatras. The BJP president Raje said last week in eastern Rajasthan while addressing the public gatherings at different places that nor the governor nor the ministers were happy with the Congress government.
“Sarkar se meri koi narajgi nah hai, nahi sarkar se nakhus hun [I am not unhappy with the state government, nor annoyed],” Ms Alva said.
The governor said she is not running a parallel government. “Whatever issues come in to light, I refer it to the government,” she added. Ms Raje said whatever credit Mr Gehlot takes from his flagship programmes, the truth is different at the ground-level.
“The governor herself raised questions on implementation of such programmes. She is not satisfied with the government,” said Ms Raje while addressing the gathering in Dholpur and Bharatpur districts. Mr Gehlot also said the institution like governor should not be used in making political comments. “Governor ko lekar tippni kare, garima ka dhyan rakhe [It is not good to make comments about governor, people should keep in mind dignity of the governor],” he said.
Mr Gehlot reminded the BJP about the then governor M.L. Khurana ,who had expressed concern over the state of tribals in Baran district. We were not in power when Mr Khurana was governor,” he said.
“If the governor make some observations and give suggestions, we should pay due attention,” he said.