NEW DELHI: Maintaining that governors were "nominated," home minister Shivraj Patil on Monday said the Centre would find it "very difficult" to deal with "any governor who does not follow the ideology laid down in the Preamble of the Constitution â€” socialism and secularism."

By asking the governors not to resign and "defy the government''s directive," the BJP had "politicised" the gubernatorial office, Patil said in Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the role of governors. The Centre had sacked four governors on July 2 for their pro-RSS leanings.

"The recent history of UP and Gujarat asks us to be cautious," Patil said, referring to the failure of the governors of the day in sending reports to the Centre, despite volatile situations that prevailed prior to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992 and after the Godhra train carnage in 2002.

Patil''s comment led to a sparring match with Leader of the Opposition L K Advani. The minister referred to dismissal of nine state governments in 1990 by the V P Singh government that was supported by the BJP and the CPM.

Advani joined issues for a while, saying: "I had brought down that government." Patil countered saying that was done thanks to the latter''s Rath Yatra, for "ideological reasons." Advani then pointed to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, saying that the Marxist veteran might "enlighten us better." Chatterjee did not oblige.

Patil said the governor''s powers could not be absolute, nor the appointment or dismissal be justifiable, since that was not envisaged in the Constitution. The Sarkaria Commission and other reports cited by the opposition were "advisory, and not mandatory" for the government of the day, Patil contended.

Contrasting the situation that led to sacking of four governors last month, Patil pointed out that three governors â€” A P Mukherjee, Sathees Chandran and K P Singh â€” asked to resign by the BJP government, had complied the same day.

Advani agreed that there was no ambiguity on the role of governor, but he insisted that in the sacking of four, "spirit of law and Constitution have been violated.... about the letter, it has to be seen."

Advani said the precedent of UPA government''s sacking of four governors because they belonged to a different ideology, would "weaken the country''s federal structure".

Advani asked the government to review the decision with "an open mind." Curiously, he urged Patil to do something that the NDA government had not done â€” accept the recommendations of the Sarkaria committee, which had suggested governors should complete their full five-year term, and the Venkatachalliah Commission, set up during the NDA''s tenure in government, which had suggested the procedure for removal of governors should be the same as that of their appointment, ie the concerned CM should be consulted.

Admitting that when he and party leader in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh had called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to protest against the removal of governors, he had told them that "some complaints against the Haryana governor had been received and he had asked the home minister to look into this."

Perhaps the best defence from the ruling coalition benches came from the CPM''s Mohammad Salim. BJP, he said, which was now waxing eloquent on the Sarkaria Commission''s recommendations, had done precious little to implement them while in power. Giving the example of Gujarat, he said the Godhra aftermath â€” when there appeared to be breakdown in the constitutional machinery â€” showed that the governor at that time had not carried out his responsibility because both he and the CM had common RSS affiliations.

Taking a swipe at former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Salim suggested that tourism minister Renuka Chaudhary send BJP MPs in batches to Manali as a visit there results in the revelation of truth, even if it is for a short time. He was referring to Vajpayee''s remarks in Manali that violence in Gujarat had contributed to the rout of the BJP in the recent elections and which had triggered speculation about CM Narendra Modi''s removal.

Taking on the BJP frontally, Salim also added that no government could tolerate its governors taking advice not from it but from Nagpur.