Goa BJP turns the heat on Governor Wanchoo

Panaji, May 23 (IANS) Goa's ruling BJP Friday turned the heat on Governor B.V. Wanchoo, with a senior party official saying that those governors facing controversy should quit their position on their own.

The "warning" to Wanchoo comes a few days after a string of media reports claiming that the Goa governor as well as his West Bengal counterpart M.K. Narayanan were to be questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Augusta Westland VVIP chopper scam.

"As a governor he is a custodian of the Indian constitution. He should quit voluntarily and gracefully on his own, otherwise people will lose faith in such institutions," party vice president Wilfred Mesquita told IANS Friday.

This is the first time that any member of the BJP has taken on Wanchoo, who has had a cordial relationship with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in the two years that the BJP-led coalition government is in power. But the BJP's recent Lok Sabha victory had triggered speculation about the future of governors appointed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) like Wanchoo.

The governor still has three years to go before his tenure in God ends.

Wanchoo, a former Indian Police Service officer was the head of the elite Special Protection Group and according to the CBI, both he and Narayanan were part of meetings which led to the the height ceiling of the VVIP choppers sought was reduced, enabling Augusta Westland to enter the picture.

While Mesquita claims the BJP is not on vendetta more, he says that it is up to Wanchoo to ensure that controversies do not mar his office.

"The position of the BJP is that such positions as governor are political appointments to non-political posts, so adequate care must be taken. When controversies arise, they should resign from their position," he said.