Won’t quit, sack me: Rajkhowa

Arunachal Pradesh governor J.P. Rajkhowa, who went on leave soon after a political crisis in the state, has refused to step down from the post on medical ground.

Mr Rajkhowa, who is in Guwahati, said that he has been pressurised from various quarters to do so. “I will not resign. I want them to dismiss me. Let the President express his displeasure. Let the government use provisions of Article 156 of the Constitution,” said Mr Rajkhowa in a televised interview.

Mr Rajkhowa also revealed that a week after the Supreme Court restored the Congress government, he was asked to step down.

In an obvious attempt to embarrass the government, Mr Rajkhowa said that Union minister Kiren Rijiju and the home secretary also confirmed that a decision had been taken at the highest level that he should quit. He said, “Mr Rijiju also said I would be suitably accommodated and that he had been asked to get my reaction. I told him I would not be resigning as I am fully fit and that he could convey to the decision-makers that they would have to adopt the constitutional route. If I am formally asked to quit, I will do so but I am not resigning on my own.”

The governor claimed that he called up Mr Rijiju after a private person in Guwahati called him up on August 29 and requested to quit.

Stating that he was hurt and feeling humiliated over the way he was asked to step down, Mr Rajkhowa said, “This is not the way to treat a person holding a constitutional post. Why did they have to use a private person to convey the vital decision ”

Mr Rajkhowa went on saying, “If they want me to quit, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet will have to recommend the same to the President, who will then issue an order under specific provisions of the Constitution.”

Mr Rajkhowa, a retired chief secretary of Assam, said, “Even a fourth grade employee of the government has to be given in writing if the government wants him or her to resign or even go on leave. I am a governor, and this a Constitutional post.”