Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has made a request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, asking them not to replace the state’s governor, RN Ravi, until the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Stalin’s appeal is based on the belief that Governor Ravi’s criticisms of Dravidian principles are inadvertently strengthening the DMK’s election campaign.
Stalin’s comments come in the wake of an incident where the governor blamed the DMK for a petrol bomb attack that occurred in front of the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. The attack was carried out by an individual with a history of criminal behavior and has since been apprehended.
“The governor should be allowed to continue [in Tamil Nadu]. He is running a parallel campaign, which is indirectly adding more strength to our campaign,” Stalin stated during a speech at a party member’s family wedding in Chennai. “Please don’t change him, at least until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His statements aren’t being taken seriously by the people, and no one gives importance to his statements.”
Governor Ravi and the ruling DMK have been at odds over various administrative matters and ideological differences. The DMK government has accused the governor of acting as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the RSS. The governor’s positions on various issues have received support from the BJP’s state unit, which has led to a direct confrontation with the DMK, sidelining the principal opposition party, AIADMK.
Stalin and the DMK have used the governor’s statements and actions to reinforce their claim that the BJP-led Union government utilizes governors as instruments in states where they do not hold power, thereby interfering with the state’s autonomy.
In response to the Raj Bhavan petrol bomb incident, senior police officials in Tamil Nadu held a press conference on Friday. They released CCTV footage related to the incident and a protest against the governor that occurred in April 2022. The footage was intended to demonstrate that there was no security lapse. According to the police, the security personnel at the Raj Bhavan acted promptly to apprehend the assailant, preventing him from igniting the petrol-filled bottles. While two bottles were thrown and caused damage to plants and barricades, no injuries were reported.
Sources By Agencies
