Maha governor denied nod to use state plane for Dehradun visit

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari was denied permission to use a state governmentaircraft to travel to Dehradun on Thursday, triggering a rowand inviting a strong criticism from the opposition BJP whichsought an apology over the incident.

Koshyari was scheduled to travel by a state governmentaircraft to Dehradun, but the permission to use the plane wasnot granted even as the governor had boarded the aircraft,sources said.

The governor later took a commercial flight to travelto the capital of his home state of Uttarakhand, a statementfrom the Raj Bhavan said.

The Raj Bhavan secretariat and the state governmentsought to blame each other for the incident, which added a newchapter in the uneasy ties between the ruling coalition,comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress, and the governor.

The Raj Bhavan statement said the governor'ssecretariat had written to the government authorities seekingpermission for the use of the aircraft ''well in advance'' onFebruary 2.

The office of the chief minister was also informedabout it, the statement said.

However, the Maharashtra government said the RajBhavan secretariat had been informed a day earlier bytheChief Minister's Office (CMO) that approval for use of theofficial aircraft has not been given.

A statement from the CMO said the state government hadtaken serious cognisance that the official concerned at RajBhavandid not apprise the governor about the communicationfrom the government (denying nod to use the aircraft).

''The Raj Bhavan official did not confirm about theapproval for use of official plane and plan the Governor'stravel schedule.

''The Chief Minister has issued directives thatresponsibility be fixed on the Raj Bhavan officialconcernedafter taking serious cognisance of the developments,'' the CMOstatement said.

It said the Raj Bhavan secretariat should haveconfirmed about availability of the official plane since non-approval for same was communicated a day earlier.

''Due to this the Governor had to face inconvenience.

The state government is not to be blamed ,'' the CMO said.

It admitted that the Raj Bhavan secretariat had soughtpermission for use of the official plane.

''On February 10, the CMO communicated that nopermission was given for use of the plane. The Raj Bhavansecretariat was expected to check on the permission and thenbring the governor to the airport,'' the CMO statement said.

According to the Raj Bhavan statement, Koshyari isscheduled to preside over valedictory function of the 122ndInduction Training Programme of IAS officers at the LalBahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration atMussoorie in Uttarakhand on Friday.

He was scheduled to depart from the ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai for Dehradunat 10 am on Thursday, the statement said.

Koshyari will travel to Mussoorie from Dehradun.

''Today, on 11th February 2021, the Honble Governorreached the CSIM Airport at 1000 hrs and boarded thegovernment plane. However, the Honble Governor was informedthat the permission for the use of Government Aircraft had notbeen received,'' the statement said.

As directed by the governor, tickets for Dehradun werebooked for the governor on a commercial aircraft leavingMumbai at 12.15 pm immediately and accordingly, he left forDehradun, it said.

While the Shiv Sena said the government had followedall laid-down norms in disallowing the governor to use thestate-owned plane, the opposition BJP demanded an apology fromthe ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the incident.

The BJP accused the MVA government of being ''egoistic''and indulging in ''childish acts''.

Earlier, a source told PTI, ''Normally, governors donot wait for the permission to come. He sat in the aircraft.

The pilot then said the permission was not given yet.'' When asked about the incident, deputy chief ministerAjit Pawar said he had no clue.

''I will take details on reaching the Mantralaya (statesecretariat) and only then will be able to say anything,'' thedeputy chief minister said.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra minister and senior BJPleader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the MVA government shouldapologise for ''insulting'' the governor.

If the state government has purposefully deniedpermission, it is a ''blot'' on the state's reputation, he said.

''If this embarrassment is not intentional, then thestate government should suspend the official who failed toissue the flying permission in time to the governor,'' he said.

The government should apologise and avoid furtherescalation of the issue, Mungantiwar said.

BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis accused the state government of being''egoistic'' and indulging in ''childish acts''.

He also alleged that the state government has insultedthe constitutional post of governor.

''It is an unfortunate incident. Such an incident hadnever happened in the state earlier. Governor is not a person,it is a designation. People come and go, but the designationstays,'' he said.

The governor is the head of the state. In fact, it isthe governor who appoints the chief minister and his cabinet,Fadnavis pointed out.

''The government should understand that it is insultinga constitutional post,'' he said.

Defending the government, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rautsaid it had followed all norms in disallowing Koshyari to usethe state plane for his visit to Dehradun.

Rejecting the BJP's charge that the government hasinsulted the governor, Raut told reporters in Delhi that therewas no politics involved in the incident.

''We respect the governor. The government has upheldthe Constitution...This is what I gather from my conversationwith Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,'' he said.

''If the governor wants to use the government plane forprivate work, then there are some rules and had the governmentviolated those rules, it would have been in the dock,'' theSena MP said.

Notably, state Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesdaysaid the MVA government has decided to move court over the'delay' by the governor in the appointment of nominatedmembers to the Legislative Council.

The state government recommended 12 names forappointment to the Council under the governor's quota toKoshyari in the first week of November last year.

In October last year, during the coronavirus lockdown,Koshyari wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,asking if the latter had turned ''secular'' since he deniedpermission at that time to reopen temples in the state.

The CM later said he does need a ''Hindutvacertificate'' from anyone.

During the pandemic last year, Koshyari also insistedon holding the final year exams of degree students in thestate, but Thackeray at that time rejected the demand.