‘Welcome move, but too late,’ Opposition MVA says on replacement of Maharashtra Governor Koshyari

‘In the history of the State, there has not been such an inept Governor,” said NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who had earlier hit out at Koshyari for having ‘crossed all limits’

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which had long been clamouring for the removal of Bhagat Singh Koshyari as Maharashtra’s Governor, on Sunday welcomed the appointment of Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais as the State’s new Governor in the latest gubernatorial reshuffle but said that the decision had come “too late”.

While MVA leaders from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction expressed hope that Mr. Bais would not repeat the same “mistakes” committed by Mr. Koshyari, Kolhapur royal Sambhaji Chhatrapati, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, said that Mr. Koshyari ought to have removed from his post at least two months ago.  

Last month, Mr. Koshyari, in a statement had said he had conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi his desire to step down from political responsibilities, while expressing his desire to spend the rest of his life reading, writing and engaging in other activities.

Mr. Koshyari’s tenure as the 22nd Governor of Maharashtra (from September 2019 onwards) was stormy. He was frequently accused by the MVA of being an overtly partisan towards the ruling BJP while repeatedly courting controversy with his remarks on the 17th century Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji and other historical personages of the State.

“Finally, Maharashtra has been accorded relief…this is a good decision, but one which should have been taken much earlier. In the history of the State, there has not been such an inept Governor as Mr. Koshyari,” NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who had earlier hit out at Mr. Koshyari for having “crossed all limits”, said.

Mr. Pawar’s daughter, NCP MP from Baramati Supriya Sule, hoped that the “unfortunate things” said by Mr. Koshyari were not repeated by the new Governor.

NCP State President Jayant Patil said the fact that Mr. Koshyari himself had expressed his desire to step down meant that the BJP in effect supported his insulting remarks against Maharashtra’s great personages.