LUCKNOW, February 22: The Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari has done it again. In his haste to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government and get the non-BJP Chief Minister installed, the Governor did not even consult the President and the Government at the Centre.He even ignored a fax message from Rashtrapati Bhawan saying that a test of majority should be done on the floor of the House and that in view of the final phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, no decision on dismissal should be taken on poll eve.In fact, this time the Governor himself played the role of a shrewd politician out to get the Kalyan Government ousted anyhow. Bhandari himself talked to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday and former Chief Minister Mayawati. He asked the two leaders to get letters of all chiefs of the non-BJP parties within the House collected and made it clear that he would take a decision on basis of these letters.Then the Governor asked the newly sworn-in Chief Minister Jagdambika Pal to assume theoath of office and secrecy even before he dismissed the Kalyan Government and according to some sources, Bhandari also advised Pal to tender his resignation from the cabinet to facilitate his coronation.Interestingly, Pal's resignation was typed in the Raj Bhawan itself and accepted by the Governor on the spot. As per norms, the resignation of any minister should be acceptable to the Governor only on recommendation of the Chief Minister. But with Bhandari calling the shots, constitutional norms take the backstage.Otherwise too, glaring contradictions even in his own decisions have exposed anti-BJP sentiments of the controversial Governor. It was the same Bhandari who gave a 48-hour deadline to Kalyan Singh on October 19 last year to prove his majority on the floor of the House when the BSP withdrew support.But four months later, when the fledgling Loktantrik Congress withdrew support, Bhandari did not even give an hour's time to Kalyan and in an autocratic manner dismissed his government.Thedismissed Chief Minister repeatedly pleaded that as per constitutional norms he should be given time to prove his majority and the House was the right place for trial of strength and not the Green room of the Governor's house but Bhandari remained unmoved.Meanwhile, Bhandari also sought legal advice for the weighing pros and cons of his decision from former Advocate General R N Trivedi, Raj Bhawan sources said.
