Bhandari lives up to controversial image

LUCKNOW, FEB 22: The last time Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari climbed to the top of the BJP’s hate-list, he did so with flamboyance. On the morning of October 16, 1996, he had decided not to invite the BJP, the single largest party following the elections, to form the government in Lucknow and, instead, impose President’s rule. His mind made up, he dragged his golf cart to indulge in his favourite sport outside politics. A couple of press photographers were alerted and the Governor was all over the next morning’s newspapers, perfectly balanced as he teed off with an extravagant swing of his driver.

Last night, Bhandari was remarkably subdued as he dismissed the Kalyan Singh government and hastily swore in one headed by Jagdambika Pal. For someone who revels in the whirr and the click of cameras, his behavior was scarcely true to type. He refused to talk to the Press. The frenetic activity at Raj Bhavan here yesterday has apparently taken its toll: callers were told that he was fast asleep throughouttoday and had asked not to be disturbed.

Controversy has been Romesh Bhandari’s faithful ally. “What do I do? Whatever I do becomes controversial. Controversies dog only an active person. I can avoid them only by sitting idle but that’s not my nature” he once said. Ever since he came as Governor in March 1996, Bhandari has been known as a Mulayam man. But his latest war with Kalyan Singh hotted up last month when the BJP Government enacted a law curtailing his power in the appointment of Vice Chancellors to state universities. A man with a taste for the good things of life, Bhandari spent Rs 2 crore refurbishing the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow and Nainital. He got a jacuzzi installed in his bathroom, antique French furniture dating back to the time of Louis XIII for his drawing room, in Lucknow Raj Bhawan, and even had a helipad constructed in its backyard.