Kamla Beniwal and the crores she spent flying from Gujarat: All you need to know

Kamla Beniwal was sacked on Wednesday night as Governor of Mizoram just two months before her tenure was to end.

While reports suggest that the government sacked her because she had a long standing feud with the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, Venkaiah Naidu has said that her sacking has nothing to do with politics.

Why Beniwal was sacked

According to a Times of India report , “The decision to sack Beniwal was taken after it came to light that she had misused the governor’s office (in Gujarat) to make several unauthorised air travels, including to her home state of Rajasthan, at the expense of the state exchequer. Citing Gujarat Raj Bhavan records, media reports said Beniwal flew out of Gujarat 63 times using the state aircraft between 2011 and 2014. As many as 53 of these trips were to Jaipur.”

Allegedly she had used a total of Rs 8.5 crore for these air travels.

Amid charges of political vendetta, the BJP has defended its decision to sack the Mizoram governor, stating that it was prompted by serious allegations against her.

There were reportedly allegations against her of involvement in a land scam as well. NDTV reported that she is “accused of acquiring plots of land from the government on claims of working 14 to 16 hours a day as farm labour, even when she was a minister in the state’s Congress government.”

According to Times of India, as chancellor of universities, “Beniwal had allegedly started taking keen interest in appointment of vice-chancellors. She surprised the government by selecting Hemaxi Rao, whose family is active in the Congress, as vice-chancellor of Hemchandracharya University, Patan. She also got the registrar of Saurashtra University removed.”

There is, however, another side to this story. According to PTI Beniwal had battled with the Modi government over the appointment of  a Lokayukta and over some legislations during her tenure in Gujarat. During her confrontation with Modi, Beniwal appointed retired Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta in Gujarat against which the state went in appeal to the High Court and later the Supreme Court which upheld it last year. It was another story that Justice Mehta did not take up the post and Modi’s government named a new nominee.

Beniwal also reportedly sat over legislations passed by the state Assembly including one that provided for 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies.

Beniwal’s background

Beniwal was first appointed as Governor of Tripura in October 2009, the first woman to be appointed as governor in the Northeast. However, a month later she was appointed as Gujarat Governor.

Beniwal was sworn in as the Governor of Mizoram on 6 July, 2014 and then sacked on Wednesday evening.

She is the second Governor to be sacked after the removal of Puducherry Lt Governor Virendra Kataria.

She became the first woman minister in Rajasthan in 1954 at the age of 27 years and later became the deputy Chief Minister of the state. She was born on January 12, 1927 at Gorir village of Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district.