Move to remove governors political vendetta: Azad

The Congress on Tuesday slammed the government's move to remove governors appointed during the United Progressive Alliance tenure as "political vendetta" and said the "dictatorial" step will have "serious repercussions".

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad reminded the government about the May 2010 judgement of the Supreme Court and said the Centre does not have the brief to remove the governors "in arbitrary and capricious manner with the change of power".

In a statement here, Azad called the "move to remove the governors of various states as dictatorial". He lamented that the National Democratic Alliance government, instead of fulfilling its electoral promises, is trying to divert the attention of the nation by indulging in "political vendetta".

The former union minister described the idea as being "against the very grain of democratic traditions and constitutional propriety". If at all taken forward, the move will be "fraught with serious repercussions and have a debilitating impact on our constitutional democracy", Azad said.

His statement came amid reports that the government has asked a number of governors appointed during the UPA tenure to quit.