JAIPUR l WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 94
NOT A RUBBER STAMP GOVERNOR! Aditi Nagar
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his morning, 79-year-old Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra completes his one year in office at Jaipur’s palatial Raj Bhawan. During this tenure, in complete contrast to his image of very low profile and soft-spoken politician, in his new role, Mishra gives a clear message to Rajasthan’s political and bureaucratic circles that he is not a rubber stamp Governor. On the development front, Mishra has proved to be a people-friendly Governor, who has done a lot for the development of six tribal districts and has also extensively toured flood-affected areas in Hadoti region. In his role as the chancellor of all the universities of the state, he had constituted a task force with a view to improve the quality of education. However, he reportedly had some serious differences or difference of opinion with the Chief Minister on the appointment of vice-chancellors in a few universities. During the ongoing corona crisis, Mishra continues to be a keen ‘watcher’ and remains in regular touch with the political and bureaucratic leadership of the state. Inspite of his simple and Gandhian lifestyle, Mishra had some criticism from relevant quarters in New Delhi and Jaipur for bringing a 1.5 crore luxury Mercedes car for his use at Raj Bhawan. Initially, there was also some criticism for his ‘frequently’ using the state aircraft for his outside state visits but subsequently, such trips were suo-moto curtailed by him. After having an excellent initial repo with the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, subsequently during 35-day long Rajasthan political crisis, mainly on account of an internal power game war between Gehlot and Pilot, Mishra, as the constitutional head of the state, had some unpleasant and strained relationship with the third time Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the issue of calling a special assembly session, in the manner and on the dates, as recommended by Gehlot cabinet. When Gehlot emerged as the final winner in this entire game, the relationship between Mishra and Gehlot, also got ‘repaired’ in due course. On 8th September 2020, one day before his first anniversary, Mishra and Gehlot again appeared to be two ‘like-minded’ persons, when on Tuesday evening, Gehlot, along with his natural ally and assembly speaker Dr CP Joshi spent almost 70 minutes to congratulate a smiling Governor and also to release his new book ‘New Thinking-New Dimensions’. An ‘enthusiastic’ Governor now will be addressing a twohour-long video press conference at 12 noon.
Kalraj Mishra