Bengal governor Gopal Gandhi has committed an unpardonable sin and has, rightly, been taken sternly to task by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other state leaders.

Governor Gandhi's lapse? In order to show solidarity with the citizens of Kolkata, and other parts of Bengal, who are suffering from long power cuts, the governor voluntarily had all the lights and electrical appliances in Raj Bhavan switched off for two hours.

This uncalled for gesture has many dangerous implications and deserves to be strictured by not just the state government, but by the political establishment of the country as a whole. For what Gandhi in effect did by turning off the lights in his official residence was to cross the Lakshman rekha -- in this case, literally, the power divide -- between the rulers and the ruled. Far from being obliterated in post-independent India, this uncrossable line has in many ways been drawn more subtly but more definingly after our home-grown rulers replaced our colonial masters.

The British made no bones about the fact that they were here to rule us and exploit us; our current rulers, at the central and state levels, cloak their suzerainty in the guise of service. Governor Gandhi -- and the reaction he provoked -- exposed this disguise for what it is.

By electing to side with the people, and their plight, rather than with the privileged powers-that-be, he exposed the divide between the electorate and those whom they elect into power -- in more ways than one. What was the fellow thinking of, sharing power cuts with aam janta? Next thing you know he -- and by implication all other representatives of the sarkar, at various levels -- would be expected to share other things with the general populace.

Things like lack of schools and colleges for their children, of basic health care, of reliable public transport. Indeed, the public might begin to perceive this as their right: that the various office-bearers of a governmental edifice that had democratically been put in place by the will of the people should be treated no differently -- in terms of basic amenities accorded to them -- from the people themselves.

What a dreadfully subversive idea. That the people in a democracy have any right other than that of periodically being allowed to elect in another -- or the same -- set of rulers to rule over them. Let people imagine that they've got rights other than that of voting in their rulers and all hell would break loose.

As it happened in Nandigram, where the locals suddenly became possessed of the bizarre notion that they actually had the right to retain possession of their own land. Impertinent nonsense, of course, which the Left government soon put paid to.

Such subversive tendencies have to be nipped in the bud. The dividing line between rulers and ruled, the all-important power divide, has to be preserved, not only in Bengal but all over the country.

Taking the cue from the British, our neo-colonial masters might put up admonitory signage on Raj Bhavans and other sarkari enclaves of privilege: Dogs and voters not allowed.