Telangana governor mulls praja darbar, baffles TRS

HYDERABAD: Newly-appointed Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday said she was considering holding ‘praja durbars’ to interact with people and hear their grievances.
The move has taken the ruling TRS by surprise and many have questioned whether the Governor would overstep the boundaries of power in doing so. For the time being, however, the state government is not openly attacking the Governor so early in her stint.
The announcement to hold the ‘praja durbar’ comes barely a week after Soundararajan took charge.She announced her intent to hold the event through her unverified Twitter handle and was in response to a plea made by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader Amjed Ullah Khan.
“Thank you for the suggestion. Already under my consideration,” Soundararajan tweeted in response to Khan’s tweet, asking her to conduct a ‘praja durbar’ once a week “so that the general public facing problems can meet her and represent the matter”.
Raj Bhavan sources confirmed to TOI that it was indeed the governor who was using the handle. Before coming to Hyderabad, Soundararajan was using the handle as BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief.
Responses to her announcement have been mixed with some lauding the move and others raising apprehensions about the Governor’s role. One Twitter user questioned if the “governor running a parallel government which will benefit the BJP rise in Telangana.” “How can you do that? You are not a people’s representative. You are only a constitutional nominee. Your role is limited to constitutional matters,” commented another user.
Former Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP and vice-chairman of Telangana state planning board, B Vinod Kumar, said the Constitution is silent on such matters but one would have to look at the fine print.
Playing is safe, TRS spokesperson and legislative council whip Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said, “Is any governor in the country holding such praja durbars? Do rules permit that the Governor can do this? If that is so, we have no objection.”
Before the 2018 assembly elections in Telangana, IT minister KT Rama Rao had dismissed the idea of holding ‘praja durbars’ saying: “We are living in a democratic set-up. The chief minister is not meant to be a king who holds praja durbars..”