The lifestyles of Governors in India rival that of the erstwhile British Viceroys, one of the many perks of holding the gubernatorial office being a luxurious Merc. And therein lies a story at odds with the general hankering after this.
When Khurshid Alam Khan was appointed Governor of Karnataka in 1992, the Raj Bhavan was saddled with a Mercedes sedan that was 15 years old. The government offered to replace it with a new one, but the Gandhian that he was, Khan preferred to use the old car. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, the vehicle seemed to frequently attract the wrath of all kinds of animals.
The first such incident was during a Republic Day celebration. A stickler for time, the Governor, who was to hoist the national flag at the Parade Grounds on Cubbon Road, left Raj Bhavan slightly ahead of schedule, leaving Chief Minister Veerappa Moily trailing behind.
As Moily’s car was approaching the grounds, he was to discover that the Governor’s convoy was ahead of his. Protocol demands that the Chief Minister be present at the venue well before time to receive the Governor. The same protocol also does not permit the Chief Minister’s convoy to overtake the Governor’s cavalcade!
As Khan’s car pulled up at the gates of the grounds, Moily’s vehicle screeched to a halt right behind. The Chief Minister made a quick dash, garland in hand, and succeeded in reaching the entrance in the nick of time to receive the Governor.
Flustered by all this commotion perhaps, a horse which was part of the Mounted Police contingent planted a kick on the Governor’s old Merc, leaving a huge dent on its door, which cost the government a small fortune even in those days.
On another occasion, Khan was proceeding towards Srirangapatna to participate in the bicentenary celebrations of Tipu Sultan. The Sangh Parivar, which had opposed the celebrations, had organised several protests en route.
As the Governor’s Merc approached Ramanagara, a coconut was flung at the windshield, shattering it. Security personnel scrambled to apprehend the miscreant. It turned out that the actual culprit was a monkey atop a nearby tree!
The government once again offered to buy a new vehicle for the Governor, but Khan would have none of it. But he allowed the government to offer him another Merc that was already in its fleet. This time, it was an even older one at 16 years, and with a history of its own. This Merc had been bought for the use of Gundu Rao when he was Chief Minister in the 80s, and had led to a public outcry over its exorbitant cost. Given that controversy, subsequent CMs had refused to use it and it was gathering dust. The government conveniently palmed it off to Raj Bhavan.
Governor V Ramadevi, who succeeded Khan, continued to use this vehicle, but it had to be retired in due course. It was during Ramadevi’s tenure that Raj Bhavan made the shift from foreign cars to less expensive and Made in India vehicles, with the Governor opting for a Mitsubishi Lancer (built by Hindustan Motors). This practice continued through the tenures of T N Chaturvedi, Rameshwar Thakur, Hansraj Bhardwaj and K Rosaiah.
The expensive Mercedes staged a comeback, however, when Vajubhai Vala, PM Modi’s trusted man from Gujarat, became the Governor in 2014. Vala, who was known for his ostentatious lifestyle, first got himself a sedan that cost the exchequer some Rs 70 lakh, only to soon upgrade himself to a Rs 1 crore-plus SUV.
Thankfully, the current Governor, Thawarchand Gehlot, has retained his predecessor’s car, instead of indulging himself with a new one. Let’s hope future Governors take inspiration from the tradition of austerity set by Khurshid Alam Khan and ensure that the Raj Bhavan does not become a white elephant feeding on public money.
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