CHENNAI: BJP state president K Annamalai on Wednesday said governors are not politicians and cannot speak like politicians. His comments, made in response to reporters’ queries, come amid yet another battle between the ruling DMK government and the Tamil Nadu governor.
Annamalai added that if a governor meets the press on a daily basis like a politician, then the dignity attached to the post of governor won’t be there. Annamalai was answering queries from reporters in Villupuram after attending the marriage of 39 couples in Tindivanam.
Asked about the posters displayed by certain DMK functionaries asking whether the TN governor was ready to answer them, Annamalai said, “Will the TN government accept if the governor starts commenting on each and every issue? It won’t because the governor is not a politician. If the BJP requests the governor to meet the press regularly to clarify the issues, will the DMK be ready for that? The DMK is dragging the governor to set a wrong precedent.
Why does the DMK, which has many senior politicians, not understand this?”
Another scribe asked when Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan revealed what is happening in that state to the reporters, why the TN governor can’t do the same, Annamalai said, “I will be the happiest person if the TN governor meets the press. But the governor should not do that because a governor should not speak politics. Though I am the state president of the ruling party (at the centre) I am quite clear about this because it would set a wrong precedent.”
He went on to say: “We should not expect that the governor should attack the DMK. The governor should only discharge his duties. If the situation warrants, the governor can give an interview once in six months or a year. If the governor starts meeting the press on a daily basis like me, then the dignity of the governor post won’t be there. We (the politicians) can put forth criticisms before the people since we have the right. If the governor does that, it would not augur well.”