CM Stalin arrogant, doesn’t respect nation: Governor RN Ravi
CHENNAI: The face-off between Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and the DMK government hit a new low on Sunday with Raj Bhavan describing Chief Minister MK Stalin as arrogant after the latter had termed Ravi’s decision to avoid delivering his address at the Assembly as “childish”.
DMK leaders refuted Raj Bhavan’s charges and said the governor is acting arrogantly as he holds the post.
Reacting to the CM’s comments, Raj Bhavan, in a post on ‘X’, said by his remarks, the CM has asserted that insisting on due respect to the national anthem and performing the fundamental duties enshrined in the constitution are “absurd” and “childish”.
“Thanks for betraying the true intentions of the coalition of interests and ideologies to which he is a leader that does not accept and respect Bharat as a nation and her constitution. Such arrogance is not good,” Raj Bhavan said, adding the CM “should not forget that Bharat is the supreme mother and the constitution is the supreme faith for her children”.
Guv wrong for trying to change convention: Duraimurugan
“They will not like or tolerate such brazen insult,” Raj Bhavan tweeted, tagging the union home minister and the office of the prime minister. Incidentally, on Sunday, when the governor celebrated Pongal with the fisher community in Tiruvallurt, organised by a fishermen association, the function started with the national anthem first and Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu recited next.
Reacting to the Raj Bhavan post, Water Resources Minister and DMK general secretary Duraimurugan, speaking in Vellore, said, “It has been the convention followed in the TN Assembly to recite Thamizh Thaai Vaazthu before the governor’s address and the national anthem after the address. The governor wanted to change the convention and so he is in the wrong. He says the CM is arrogant, but it is he who is haughty as he holds the post of governor.”
On the Raj Bhavan tweet, DMK spokesperson Constantine Ravindran told TNIE that although the governor speaks of respect for the constitution, no other governor has issued such a statement that is contrary to the constitution. “On the other hand, the CM has never disrespected the constitution or federal principles. Had the CM done so in the past, the prime minister and union ministers would not have shared the dais with the CM. The President’s office would not remain silent if a CM disrespects the country or its constitution,” he said.
The DMK spokesperson pointed out that when the governor arrived at the secretariat, he was received with the national anthem and was led into the House. “Within the House, Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu was recited first and the national anthem was recited at the end of the House proceedings. At no point was the national anthem was insulted,” he said. Ravindran added that it is inappropriate for the governor to play politics using the constitutional shield given to his gubernatorial post.
Asked if the never-ending confrontation between the governor and the DMK government is good for the state, he said, “It is not a confrontation... The CM and government never failed to show appropriate respect to the governor. Whatever the governor is doing is an attack on the constitution by the constitutional head of the state.”
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam said the governor seems to be trying to set the narrative that the DMK government has not been acting in accordance with the constitution, noting that in the past, state governments have been dismissed on allegations of violating the constitution. “The remark that the CM is arrogant shows that it is the governor who is indeed arrogant,” he said, adding that Ravi cannot change House conventions.
Shyam pointed out that the speaker had clarified the matter to the governor many months ago and on January 6, the governor went to the House knowing well that both songs would be recited as per the established conventions of the House. “Later playing the blame game is inappropriate,” Shyam added.