Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has termed the ‘Praja Darbar’ on women’s issues conducted by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday “anti-democratic” and by doing so the Raj Bhavan has become “rajakiya (political) bhavan”.
Dr. Soundararajan had set a new tradition, which was was opposed by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was holding guard in Gujarat, along with demand for implementation of Sarkaria and Poonch Commission recommendations on the Centre-State relations and federal structure in the country, TRS legislator and Public Undertakings Committee Chairman A. Jeevan Reddy said addressing a press conference here on Saturday.
Stating that it was not a ‘praja darbar’ but was a political darbar, the TRS leader sought to know what Mr. Modi had preached when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister and what he was doing now. He further reminded that Mr. Modi had suggested in the past that the Centre must take more care in the appointment of Governor when a party that was not in power at the Centre would be in power in a State.
The incident of ‘praja darbar’ held by the Raj Bhavan would make it clear one more time that there was huge gap between the words and deeds of Mr. Modi. The appointment of Dr. Soundararajan, a BJP leader, was against what Mr. Modi had demanded in the past, he pointed out and suggested that Dr. Soundararajan could enter politics and become State BJP president in place of Bandi Sanjay in case she was interested in politics.
Mr. Jeevan Reddy said that the TRS had nothing against Dr. Soundararajan but for her political overtures. “TRS is against the Raj Bhavan poking its nose into politics,” he said and suggested that the BJP make the Governors in States ruled by the party to hold ‘paraja darbars.
He alleged that the BJP had been using CBI, ED, IT and other bodies for harassing the opposition parties and now the Governor system was added to the list. He sought to know whether the bodies had been used against any of the BJP leaders so far.
The TRS leader sought to know whether holding a meeting with women leaders of opposition parties would become a praja darbar. He also said there was no need to hold praja darbar in Pragathi Bhavan when people’s problems were being attended to at the field level itself and said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was giving people what they have not asked for too.
Further, he sought to know when Mr. Modi could become Prime Minister after serving as Gujarat Chief Minister, what was wrong in Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao becoming one.
