CHENNAI: Leaders of various political parties slammed Governor RN Ravi on Tuesday for holding ‘political discussions’ with actor Rajinikanth on Monday. CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan, who took strong exception to it, said the statement by the actor clearly showed that Raj Bhavan has been turned into a political office.
"A courtesy call on the Governor by the actor is acceptable. Rajinikanth had said that he had discussed politics but cannot divulge the details to media. "It is very strange. The Raj Bhavan is not a place for political discussions. A Governor should not function as a representative of a political party. What was the necessity that forced the Governor to discuss politics that cannot be revealed to the media," Balakrishnan asked in a statement issued on Tuesday.
"This Raj Bhavan is already being condemned for running a parallel government to the one elected by the people. Now it has become a political office. This is against the interest of the people of Tamil Nadu. How long are we going to tolerate the violation of the official position by the Governor," he asked.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Coimbatore, MDMK general secretary Vaiko said Rajinikanth’s speech need not be taken seriously as the actor himself does not understand his own words. "He himself does not understand what he says. One day he says he will come to politics and says that he had asked his cadres to enrol new members. Another day, he says he will not come to politics," Vaiko said. Responding to the GST hike on essential things, Vaiko said common man suffers because of the tax that benefits corporates like Adani and Ambani.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee K S Alagiri too slammed Governor R N Ravi for his ‘political talk’. Speaking in Tenkasi, Alagiri said, “Actor Rajinikanth said Governor Ravi was willing to work for the welfare of people of Tamil Nadu. If the governor wants to do something for the people, he should work to get exemption from NEET for TN students. Ravi is unethically holding meetings for Vice-Chancellors of Tamil Nadu universities without the knowledge of the State government."
Meanwhile, Kadambur C Raju, former AIADMK minister and Kovilpatti MLA, said we believe Governor RN Ravi is an apolitical person, and his meeting with Rajini will remain a mystery until one of them reveals what they discussed.