Dehradun:

Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will be given a plane by the Uttarakhand government to return to Mumbai if he desires so, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Friday.

The statement came a day after the governor was forced to de-board a Maharashtra government aircraft at the Mumbai airport.

Terming the treatment meted out to Mr Koshyari at the Mumbai airport by the Maharashtra government as “misuse of power”, Mr Rawat said,” A governor is not an individual but the constitutional head of a state and representative of the President. Respect should be shown to his office as per the conventions in a democracy.”

“He (Koshyari) will be given a state plane by the Uttarakhand government to return to Mumbai if he asks for it,” Mr Rawat said.

Mr Koshyari had to deboard a Maharashtra government aircraft after sitting in it for about 20 minutes on Thursday when he was told there was no permission for the flight.

He was coming to Dehradun on the way to Mussoorie to attend an official function.

Subsequently, Mr Koshyari, a former chief minister of Uttarakhand and one of the senior most BJP leaders from the state, came to Dehradun in a scheduled commercial flight.

Condemning the way Koshyari was treated by the Maharashtra government, state BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat said, “It was shameful on part of the Maharashtra government to treat him like this. It shows how little it cares for democratic norms.”