CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin has written a letter to President Droupadi Murmu urging her to return the Kalaignar University Bill and the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill to the Governor with a direction to him to consider the Bill in accordance with law and the aid and advice of the state government. The letter was dated December 2.
On Thursday, MPs from six political parties from the state led by DMK MP T R Baalu submitted a representation to the President’s office seeking swift action on the letter. In the letter, the CM said, “I made an announcement on April 24, 2025, in the Assembly that a university in the name of Kalaignar University will be established in Kumbakonam to provide world-class education and increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio of the surrounding districts. We have already identified 54.86 acres of land.”
The letter also detailed that the Bill was passed on April 29 and was sent to the Governor on May 2 for his assent. However, the Governor reserved the Bill for the President’s consideration on July 14. “The Governor has unilaterally declared that the Bills are repugnant to the UGC regulations. This could have been averted if the Governor had consulted the government before acting and reserving the Bill,” the CM said.
The Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill seeks to vest the power of the appointment and removal of the VC with the state government instead of the Chancellor.
Referring to the SC’s opinion on the Presidential Reference, the CM said, “There must be a dialogue between the government and the Governor, which was conspicuously absent in the present case. The Governor did not speak to the government before unilaterally declaring the Bills as repugnant.” The CM concluded his letter to the President with an appeal. “I await your favourable consideration of this request as it pertains to the education and aspirations of countless students, particularly from the socially and educationally backward sections,” he said.
Speaking to the reporters in New Delhi, Baalu said the Governor was acting childishly. “Without doing his duty properly, he unnecessarily sent the Bills to the President,” he said.