The cabinet form of government in the state of Goa is non-existent for around 90 days as constitutional law and practice does not provide for a headless government. The Constitution does not permit any void in the convention that government of a state should comprise the Governor along with the Chief Minister and his Council. The current Goa cabinet is without the occupant at the top. The current formula of Cabinet Advisory Committee (CAC) in the absence of a Chief Minister to preside over the cabinet is without precedents and also constitutionally untenable. Two incumbents in office are non-negotiable — the governor as the head of state and the chief minister as the head of government. Any vacuum in this is impermissible and disallowed.
Collective responsibility being the sin qua non of cabinet form of government, it is imperative that cabinet meets frequently and regularly. Citing health grounds of the chief minister, the assembly session was pruned to the minimum of the minimum denying the legislators their right and privilege and there are no positive indicators that the House would be convened soon to ensure parliamentary accountability and provide legislators the opportunity to censure the government and ministers.
All and sundry, whether it is ministers, coalition partners, BJP legislators, business households et al admit that the government is paralyzed but none drops a hint of appointment of acting chief minister. In a way, this is the failure of the state BJP legislature party to provide an acceptable alternative. Some take pride in the view that this is a measurement of the “power” of Manohar Parrikar to stay in office by not being in office. This situation is also regarded as the outcome of current political power equations wherein the BJP is numerically handicapped.
The Governor has chosen to remain deaf to the demand of the Opposition to provide for a temporary occupant to the office of chief minister. The governor could be holding to the postulate that there are no limits on the term of office of the chief minister as long as he enjoys the confidence of the Assembly. Neither the chief minister has resigned, nor is there any motion of no confidence against the government. There is nothing on record to indicate that the chief minister in elongated absentia is reduced to minority or the likelihood of having lost the majority in the House.
There are precedents for the governor to follow for chief ministerial succession in case of death or prolonged incapacity of Chief Minister. If the PM or CM suffered from ill health, the appropriate course of action is for the PM or CM to inform the President or Governor and his parliamentary party of his illness and desire to resign. In Tamil Nadu, the governor allotted portfolios held by ailing chief minister J. Jayalalitha to finance minister Panneerselvam and power to preside over the cabinet. Similar arrangement was done when chief minister M. G. Ramchandran was flown to US for treatment. In 1964, Gulzarilal Nanda, the senior-most in the Nehru ministry took charge of the caretaker cabinet the moment the death of the first PM of India, Pandit Nehru was announced. He held the keys for 13 days till Lal Bahadur Shastri was elected as the full time PM. On death of Shastriji, Gulzarilal Nanda was once again appointed as a temporary PM, this time also for 13 days, till Indira Gandhi was in the saddle. When Indira Gandhi succumbed to the bullets of an assassin, the convention of the senior-most as caretaker was not followed. Rajiv Gandhi was directly sworn in as the PM by Giani Zail Singh. The caretaker PM or CM is supposed to be senior most among the party leaders is a unwritten convention with no legal force. The caretaker is for short period till the ruling party elects its leader as CM.
There is no strong constitutional convention for the incapacity of the Chief Minister on grounds of sickness. The question would remain as to who will determine the incapacity. Governor of Goa as the Head of State has not demanded for any official health bulletin on the health of Chief Minister. The stories dished out by BJP politicians cannot convince a nursery going child and the thinking public regards these as blatant lies but still embraces them though with reluctance. The governor seems to be more than satisfied giving credence that the office of the governor is remote controlled by BJP national leaders. If the BJP and their occupant at Raj Bhavan are transparent, incapacity of the incumbent would be clear.
Should the incumbent remain chief minister all the time in the event of incapacity and permanent unavailability? Apart from human element, it is a constitutional problem. The situation in Goa is unconventional as the CM has not resigned nor given any indications. The ruling party is not coming forward with a leader. The cabinet form of government is incomplete without an acting CM to preside over the cabinet, just to keep the wheels of governance in motion. It is for the governor to make the stop-gap or interim arrangement. The governor can follow the option of appointing the senior-most leader of the major partner in the coalition to be the temporary occupant. Along with, the governor should provide a short deadline to the ruling party or the coalition to complete the process of electing the leader.
(The writer is an educationist and political commentator)
