Outgoing Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais claimed “lack of vision” stunted the state’s growth despite Chief Minister Hemant Soren being a good leader, and that he deliberately did not take further steps on the ECI missive on the office-of-profit row to not obstruct development.
Bais was appointed as the governor of Maharashtra while C P Radhakrishnan, a two-time Lok Sabha member of the BJP from Coimbatore, will take his place in Jharkhand.
“Hemant Soren is a good leader but the state is afflicted with lack of vision of his officials and ministers.
“… I did not take any further step on the Election Commission letter… I saw that governments in Jharkhand were not stable and I did not want to obstruct development,” Bais said during a briefing with representatives of some media outlets.
The governor said he had earlier decided to take a decision at an appropriate time, and the ball is now in the court of his successor.
The EC had sent its opinion to the Raj Bhavan on the office-of-profit row involving the CM on August 25, after conducting a hearing on a reference from Bais.
Bais had referred to the EC the complaint filed by the BJP seeking the disqualification of Soren from the Jharkhand assembly for allegedly holding office-of-profit by granting himself a mining lease in 2021.
A high-voltage drama ensued, followed by the Soren government in September winning a confidence vote in the assembly by a comfortable margin amid apprehensions that the ruling MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress would be poached to bring down the JMM-led regime.
Asked about allegations by the JMM-led coalition that the Centre was using the governor as a tool to destabilise the democratically elected government in the state, Bais said on attaining a position like the governor, a person becomes “unbaised” and acts as per the Constitution.
Bais said he was guided by the Constitution and “development of the state” was his sole motive, while mockingly saying that “uncertainty made them work hard in the last one-and-a-half years”.
He said the pace of development in Jharkhand, which has the potential to be one of the leading states given its resources, was “very slow” and that law and order has “taken a backseat”.
“I was particularly concerned at the poor law and order in the state. If shopkeepers don’t feel safe inside their shops, if people don’t feel safe inside their homes, it indeed is a matter of concern. I asked officials to take steps in this regard. There should be fear of law among wrongdoers,” he said.
Bais said the image of the state has taken a hit and any investor coming to set up industry here would definitely want his family and unit to be safe.
“I want the state government to take constructive approaches and make all possible efforts for development,” he said.
On the 1932 Khatiyan Bill, he said a thought was needed why did the current assembly pass the bill when earlier it was rejected by the assembly as well as the high court.
Bais had in January sent back the bill to the government for reconsideration, describing it to be violative of Article 16 of the Constitution and court rulings.
Earlier, he had sought a reply from the government as to why the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) was constituted without consulting the Raj Bhavan and termed it an encroachment into his rights and powers enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
“I have not received any explanation from the government on TAC to date,” he said.
He claimed that the government had failed to utilise its budget and barely 45 per cent has been spent.
