March 12, 2008
 

Pratibha Patil: President of Amaravati

First, she wanted an airport in Amaravati, at a cost of at least Rs. 400 crores.

Now, she wants an Indian Institute of Technology to be setup in Amaravati, of all places. If that isn't bad enough, she wants it to be an exclusive women-only institute (Link via Nitin).

Of course, these demands have nothing to do with the fact that it was her constituency. They're aimed at overall development of Vidarbha.

This is the whole problem with making chamchas/chamchis as presidents or governors. SM Krishna moved to Maharashtra as governor shortly after the 2004 elections. Now he's back in active politics. Sushil Kumar Shinde was made governor of Andhra Pradesh in 2004, but obviously the office wasn't to his liking. He quit in 2006 and is now a Union cabinet minister. ND Tiwari is the current Andhra Pradesh governor, but it wasn't too long ago that he was the Uttaranchal Chief Minister.

I'm fairly sure there're several such instances in the past where politicians have been given gubernatorial postings as a sop or to ensure they don't continue making trouble for the party.

There should be a constitutional bar on people being appointed governors within 5 years of holding any sort of executive position in their party or in government.

Labels: agriculture, airports, education, governor, iit, india, pratibha patil, president