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Tripathy sworn in as Meghalaya Governor

By Raju Das

SHILLONG, Jan 6 � Newly-appointed Meghalaya Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi today wondered why some Governors have refused to come to the region, stating that the �North East is a nice place� to be in.

Tripathi, after being sworn in by Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice (acting) Uma Nath Singh at the Raj Bhavan here as the 19th Governor of the State, said: �the NE is such a nice place to come. Why they don�t want to come here I don�t know.� The statement was made after he was asked if the NE has become some sort of a �dumping ground� for Governors.

The question was asked in the context of Mizoram specifically where there have been six Governors in that many months with some refusing to come to the State or resigning from their posts altogether after being transferred.

Presently, Aziz Qureshi has been transferred from Uttarakhand to the Congress-ruled State of Mizoram and KK Paul, former Governor of Meghalaya, would be replacing him.

Although the office of the Governor is a Constitutional position with the Governors held as the �head of the State,� but over the years, many argue, that the appointments and transfers have been largely politicised.

After the Congress-led UPA-I Government came to power in 2004, several Governors appointed by the BJP-led NDA Government were sacked.

The argument given by the UPA Government at that time in the Supreme Court, after a petition was filed against the removals, was that the Governors appointed during the NDA Government were �out of sync� with the policies and ideologies of UPA Government.

The recent transfer of Governors by the NDA-led Government could be viewed in this larger context. The Supreme Court has, however, ruled in 2010 that Governors cannot be removed just because they are out of sync with the polices and ideologies of the Goverment. So, one of the option that remains before the Government now is to transfer Governors.

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