President appointed me on Sonia advice,says MP Governor

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has termed the statement unconstitutional. State general secretary of PUCL,Rajeev Yadav,has launched a campaign for the Governor’s removal on Facebook,where he has posted the speech. He plans to take up the matter with the President.

In the video,Ram Naresh Yadav is heard saying,“Main badhai dena chahta hun,aur badhai diye bina reh nahi pa raha hun,Sonia Gandhiji ko jinke paramarsh se Rashtrapati Pratibha Devisingh Patil ne mujh jaise chhote karyakarta ko Madhya Pradesh mein yeh samman diya (I wish to congratulate Sonia Gandhi on whose advice President Pratibha Devisingh Patil gave such an honour to a small worker like me in Madhya Pradesh).”

“The Congress calls Anna Hazare’s demands unconstitutional,but says nothing when their own Governor speaks of how Sonia Gandhi is using the legal right of the Prime Minister to appoint governors. The Constitution is not anyone’s private property,people like Ram Naresh Yadav should be made answerable,” Rajeev Yadav said.

Speaking to The Indian Express from Bhopal,Ram Naresh Yadav said his statement was being misinterpreted. “I used the word ‘paramarsha’,which does not mean that Sonia Gandhi asked the President to appoint me. Sonia Gandhi is UPA chairperson and the President can ask for information from her about a party worker,’’ he explained.

The Governor said he knows the Constitution and understands his responsibilities. Rajeev Yadav does not buy the argument. “We will take up the issue with the President and also in public,demanding dismissal of the Governor.” He said they had checked the authenticity of the video.

Ashok Verma,one of the organisers of the function,said an unnecessary controversy was being created over the remarks which the Governor had made “in an emotional moment’’ while speaking to people who were like his family. Madhya Pradesh BJP president Prabhat Jha said the Governor should not have made such a statement. “But since he holds a constitutional post and we respect it,we will not make it an issue. It is for the people to decide what is right and what is wrong,” Jha said.

Eighty-three-year-old Ram Naresh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh during the post-emergency Janata Party regime from June 1977 to February 1979. Later,he joined the Congress.

In late August,he was appointed Governor of Madhya Pradesh and took over in early September. He has been felicitated in Lucknow and Azamgarh.