Tamil Nadu govt, Governor row heats up; DMK delegation to meet President

A high-powered delegation from the ruling DMK will meet President Draupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Wednesday to complain against Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi deviating from the prepared text in his address to the state Assembly on Monday.

The delegation led by Law Minister S Regupathy will also include T R Baalu, DMK Parliamentary Party leader, former Union Minister A Raja, and Rajya Sabha members P Wilson, and N R Elango. “The delegation will meet the President on Wednesday and submit a detailed memorandum on the happenings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday,” a DMK leader told DH.

Also Read | No place for personal opinions of Governor during address to Assembly: TN government

The delegation will also tell the President that the Governor stepped his brief by not just deviating from the text prepared by the government but also adding a few portions on his own. After Chief Minister M K Stalin took objection to his act and moved a resolution to take “on record” only the transcript circulated among the legislators, the Governor walked out of the house in a huff.

This is the second time in recent months that the DMK will be complaining against Ravi to the President. In November last year, the DMK and allies demanded his ouster.

Meanwhile, posters thanking people for trending #GetOutRavi on Twitter and other social media platforms were pasted on walls across Chennai on Tuesday, even as Chief Minister M K Stalin told his legislators not to criticize or condemn Ravi over his walking out from the assembly in a huff.

The posters printed by DMK cadres with pictures of Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi, and other party leaders were pasted outside Anna Arivalayam, the DMK HQ in Chennai, and in many vantage points of the city.

Also Read | How Governor Ravi came under the DMK’s line of fire

The hashtag #GetOutRavi trended on Twitter for the whole of Monday with over 1 lakh mentions and the poster thanked the people for the “feat.”

Addressing a meeting of party MLAs, the Chief Minister is believed to have told the legislators to carry on with their regular business and not refrain from criticizing the Governor or his actions in the Assembly on Monday.

“His message to legislators was to continue with their people-related work. The CM feels that there was a design to make the DMK respond to every issue and that the party members should not fall into the trap. We were told to keep off from the governor controversy,” a senior leader told DH.

Another leader said the top brass feels the Government and the party gave a “befitting response” to the Governor omitting several portions of the text prepared by the DMK dispensation.

“While the CM moved a resolution in the House demanding that only the address circulated among members will go on record, he also fielded senior minister Thangam Thenarasu to talk about the Governor giving his nod to the speech. The CM feels the issue should be left there,” the leader told DH.

Tuesday also saw sporadic protests against the Governor in Coimbatore and Tiruvannamalai, even as the police protection outside Raj Bhavan was enhanced. College students in Tiruvannamalai held a demonstration against the Governor’s actions and raised slogans like Vaazhga Tamil Nadu (Long Live Tamil Nadu).