Failure: Apart from rapping the Akhilesh regime on the law and order issue, he has often placed it in the dock over its complete inaction on reports submitted by the Lokayukta indicting ministers
UP Governor Ram Naik on Monday delivered a resounding rap on the knuckles to the Akhilesh Yadav government by publicly calling it a failure on the law and order front.
In fact, the Governor set a new tradition when he presented a report on his three months in office before the media. This is unprecedented in the history of UP or in any state of the country.
Releasing a booklet that contained press clippings of his tenure in the 'Raj Bhawan' (Governor House) here and other details of seminars and meetings that he has addressed, Naik said he was keen on bringing an element of transparency in his working.
The 45-page booklet 'Raj Bhawan mein Ram Naik' has been put together by his daughter Vishakha Kulkarni.
"Normally, people think that Governors just occupy spacious Raj Bhawans and do nothing while enjoying their tenure. I want to change this perception. I want to work for the people within the framework of the Constitution and with the help of the state government," Naik said trying hard to explain what many might see as his sudden activism.
Naik has, in fact, been at loggerheads with the Samajwadi Party (SP) government ever since he took over on July 12 this year. More recently, he raised many an eyebrow in the SP dispensation when he hosted an official dinner for RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the Raj Bhawan here.
Apart from rapping the Akhilesh regime on the law and order issue, he has often placed it in the dock over its complete inaction on reports submitted by the Lokayukta indicting ministers, top politicians and bureaucrats for large-scale corruption during the Mayawati regime.
The SP had retorted strongly recently during its national level conclave here. In a resolution adopted on the occasion, the SP had asked Governors to "stay within limits". The resolution firmly stated that Governors should not indulge in politics and function within the guidelines enshrined in the Constitution.
On Monday, as reporters brought up the issue, the Governor denied the SP charge that governors were indulging in political activism. "My job here is to ensure that the government works according to the Constitution, and I am only doing that," he asserted.
He said that he had spoken to UP CM Akhilesh Yadav a number of times and had even written letters to him over the law and order situation "but things have not improved much".
The Governor said that not too much should be read into his report on his past 90 days in office as "this is my personal commitment to accountability in public life".
"I was in the Lok Sabha for 26 years and I released a publication 'Lok Sabha mein Ram Naik' every year, giving a detailed account of the work done by me. After I ceased to be a Member of Parliament, I have been releasing an annual report called 'Lok Seva mein Ram Naik'. Now that I am in Raj Bhawan, I am simply following that practice," he explained.
Responding to a question about inviting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for dinner to Raj Bhawan, Naik said, "Bhagwat ji is a personal friend and in the past 90 days, I have met over 1,700 people and delegations, and attended 43 public functions. I have also invited leaders of other parties so what is wrong if I invite my friend for a meal?"
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