February 9, 1998

Caretaker government proposes, Narayanan endorses.

Prabhu Chawla

With both politicians and the usual hangers-on vanishing from Inder Kumar Gujral's official residence on Race Course Road, the spotlight has now shifted to Raisina Hill. Atop this little hillock are situated the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan and the North and South Blocks that house the offices of the prime minister, the home minister, the finance minister and the defence minister.

They are all of course busy seeking another mandate. So, it was President K.R. Narayanan who was being questioned for his dubious endorsement of several important decisions emanating from Race Course Road. Since Gujral resigned on November 28, 1997, the President has given his consent to the appointments of two governors, allowed over half a dozen ambassadors and high commissioners to take up their new assignments and endorsed the Government's decision to extend the services of several senior bureaucrats including that of one secretary, besides allowing the caretaker Government to take policy decisions that would have long-term financial implications.

But the most blatant presidential capitulation was Narayanan's nod for the appointment of Arun Prosad Mukherjee as Mizoram Governor. He is currently a consultant to Home Minister Indrajit Gupta. Though Mukherjee was initially appointed for a specific period of six months, Gupta managed three extensions for him on one pretext or the other. His only claim to current fame is that he was the CBI chief during the last few months of the Rajiv government.

But Mukherjee's controversial credentials were ignored by the President on the ground that a highly volatile state like Mizoram can't be left without a nominee of the Centre during the elections. But the fact is that the governor's post fell vacant in early January when P.R. Kyndiah resigned to contest the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate from Shillong. Narayanan had then directed Tripura Governor S. Prashad to look after Mizoram as well. But within the next two weeks the cult of cronyism prevailing in the United Front (UF) Government forced the President to accommodate one more favourite. Last month, Narayanan appointed Satish Chandran, former principal secretary to both H.D. Deve Gowda and Gujral, as Goa's Governor -- a post which was lying vacant for the past seven months.

The usually alert and cautious Narayanan has shown more magnanimity to this outgoing government than any of his predecessors had ever shown to caretaker governments of the past. For example, former President R. Venkataraman not only questioned many economic decisions taken by Chandra Shekhar's caretaker government, he even reversed some of them. Earlier, he had ordered V.P. Singh to refrain from taking any policy decision pending the fate of his confidence motion in the Lok Sabha. But Narayanan has done nothing of that kind.

Most of the political parties barring the constituents of the UF have quietly ignored these institutional aberrations because of the prospects of another hung Parliament. If that happens, it will be Narayanan's decisions that will make or mar the political careers of many a prime ministerial aspirant. Hopefully, till then politicians' weaknesses will not continue to provide extra power to the presidential elbow.

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