The President enforces the conduct code

Following a report in this newspaper on Friday how the Haryana Governor asked his Ambedkar Jayanti speech audience to support Prime Minister...

Following a report in this newspaper on Friday how the Haryana Governor asked his Ambedkar Jayanti speech audience to support Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, President A P J Abdul Kalam has stepped in.

The Rashtrapati Bhawan has asked the Home Ministry to submit a report on Governor Babu Parmanand’s speech, in which he praised the Prime Minister and took pot shots at Haryana’s INLD Government and the local Congress candidate.

Governors, like the President himself, are expected to rise above partisan politics. Following the directive from Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Home Ministry has asked Vjay Vardhan, the secretary to the Haryana Governor, to furnish a report by Monday. In an apparent reference to the current Haryana Government, the Governor had told a gathering of Dalits in Rewari on April 14 that ‘‘testing those tested once is foolhardy.’’ He even urged the people to support Prime Minister Vajpayee while singling him out as the one who has brought peace and, hence development. ‘‘Vajpayee ne aman par pahal ki hai. Aap unke saath sahyog karein.’’ (‘‘Vajpayee has taken the lead in peace. You must support him.’’) When contacted by The Sunday Express, Vardhan said he had been away from Chandigarh and was yet to see the directive.

Meanwhile, Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala is said to have sought an appointment with the President to discuss the issue.