2.1.1. Why the Governor is appointed and not elected

In the Draft Constitution, the framers of the Constitution had decided upon an elected Governor for each of the States. This decision was in conformity with their idea of giving each State the maximum autonomy as Units of a Federation. However, within two years, the Constituent Assembly decided to abandon this idea in favor of an appointed Governor and this was provided for in the Constitution too. Following are the arguments cited in favor of this move:

1. In a Parliamentary system of Government a popularly elected Governor does not fit well. If the Governor is elected directly by the people, he becomes a direct representative of the people and may very well exercise his powers, not as the constitutional head of the State, but as its real head.

2. Such a position is very likely to create a rivalry between the Governor and the Council of Ministers, whose members are also directly elected by the people.

3. Instead of the Governor being elected directly by the people, if he is elected by the State Legislature, there seems to be not much chance of a rivalry between him and the Ministry. This is because the Ministry is responsible to the same legislature which has elected the Governor. Also, there will exist a grave danger of the Governor becoming a pawn in the hands of political parties that secure his election.

4. Either a directly or an indirectly elected Governor is unlikely to fit into a highly centralized system of government. For, the Governor in either case is a representative of the State who receives his authority from the people of the State. In case of a conflict between the State and the Union, such a Governor is not likely to act as a convenient instrument of the Union Government. On the other hand, the Governor may create difficulties in the path of the Union's authority extending in any form to the State's sphere. This is not in harmony with the idea of emergency powers, under which the Union becomes all-powerful and the federal system ceases to function.