Maha guv boards state plane, only to be told he can’t use it
MUMBAI: Unease between Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the Uddhav Thackeray administration deepened on Thursday when the latter denied Koshyari use of the state government’s plane to travel to Dehradun, forcing him to get off the aircraft and take a commercial flight instead.
Raj Bhavan’s secretariat and the state government sought to blame each other for the episode. After a controversy erupted, the opposition BJP slammed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government, saying the incident had maligned Maharashtra’s image. The government and Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, which leads the coalition government, said the state was only following rules laid down by the home ministry.
According to a statement by Raj Bhavan, Koshyari reached the international airport and boarded the state government’s plane, but he was told the aircraft could not take off because the chief minister’s office (CMO) had not approved the flight. The governor then disembarked and eventually took a commercial flight to Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The Raj Bhavan statement said Koshyari was to attend 122th Indian Administrative Service induction programme at the Lal Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, on
Friday and he was supposed to take the government aircraft on Thursday morning to Dehradun and planned to reach Mussoorie by road. “The Governor reached the CSMI {Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International} Airport at 1000 hrs and boarded the government plane. However, the Hon’ble Governor was informed that the permission for the use of government aircraft had not been received. As directed by the Hon’ble Governor, tickets for Dehradun were booked on a commercial aircraft leaving Mumbai at 1215 hrs immediately and accordingly, he left for Dehradun,” the governor’s secretariat said in a statement.
The chief minister’s office (CMO) blamed the governor’s secretariat for the episode.
“The secretariat should have ensured that they had permission to use the aircraft before the governor’s departure from his official residence. The state government is not at fault and the officials at the governor house responsible for negligence will have to face action following the directives issued by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in this regard,” the CMO said in a statement.
“The chief minister has taken serious cognisance of the episode and has directed the administration to fix the responsibility on the officials concerned at Raj Bhavan,” the CMO said, indicating that action would be taken against the officials for not informing the governor about the need for the government’s permission.
CMO has to approve all requests for use of government aircraft and inform the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“On Wednesday, the Governor House was informed that the CMO was yet to clear the request. The secretariat is expected to finalise travel plans and bring the governor to the airport based on the permissions for using the aircraft, but it didn’t happen. The governor could not travel to the desired destination in the government aircraft because the concerned officials at Raj Bhavan didn’t take any confirmation,” the CMO said.
Talking to a local news channel in Dehradun in the evening, Koshyari said it was an official tour and he reached there in another plane as could not get a government one. “I could not get an airplane so came here through another one...it happens..” the governor said.