Stalin: BJP appointed governor Ravi to permanently hinder TN’s growth

CHief government minister and DMK chairman MK iosif vissarionovich dzhugashvili on wed supercharged that the BJP-led Union government is creating obstacles for Tamil Nadu and that the Centre has appointed governor RN Ravi to permanently stop the state’s growth. Stalin was responding to the governor’s interview to a TV channel on Monday where he had defended his position on various tussles he’s had with the DMK government in the past five years and levelled charges against Tamil Nadu’s politicians.“It is laughable that the governor said in the interview that he is here to serve Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said speaking in Erode district, where he inaugurated government projects. He dismissed the governor’s opinions that the state’s law and order is deteriorating and harbouring terrorists, students are moving from Tamil to English mediums and that Tamil politicians have not done anything for the promotion of neither the language nor its culture.“The governor has praised the BJP government at the Centre, which could not prevent the killings of people in extremist attacks. He arrogantly called a peaceful state like Tamil Nadu a terrorist state. We have to tame his arrogance,” Stalin said. “He (governor) is speaking as though those who do not vote for the BJP are terrorists.” Stating that several Tamilians were freedom fighters, Stalin said that the governor has to be condemned for his opinion that Tamilians are anti-nationals.This is the latest flashpoint, amid such prolonged tensions between the DMK-led TN government and governor Ravi, who had withheld assent to several state bills — some for over two years — and later forwarded ten of them to the President after the assembly re-enacted them, the state moved the Supreme Court earlier this year.On the language issue, Stalin said that the state’s students are studying English so they can have opportunities across the globe.“What is your problem with that? We are motivated to study English twice as hard. If regional languages flourish today in non-Hindi speaking states across India, it was only due to Tamil Nadu’s language war by sacrificing lives,” Stalin said referring to the anti-Hindi protests in the state since the 1960s. “You don’t have to lecture us on Tamil language in Tamil Nadu. We have a PhD in that subject.”He also accused opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) of betraying Tamil Nadu. Stalin questioned why EPS was not taking up issues of Tamil Nadu to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government, despite BJP being their ally. He accused EPS of not standing up for farmers and doing lip service by wearing a green scarf and not fighting for the metro projects.The ruling party and its allies have been on back to back protests demanding that the BJP-led Union government raise the permissible moisture content of rice to 22%, re-consider their rejection of metro projects for Coimbatore and Madurai and the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR).“BJP doesn’t want to give anything to Tamil Nadu because the state didn’t vote for them,” Stalin said. “BJP is taking revenge on people because the DMK is governing.”Stalin reiterated his attack against the governor for withholding Bills and forwarding them to the President.He specifically criticised the governor for sitting on a Bill to establish a university named after his father and five-time late chief minister M Karunanidhi which was adopted by all-parties in the assembly. “He’s trying to hide that he sat on it and escape by shifting the blame on the President,” Stalin said, adding that MPs will seek the President’s approval for the bill if Centre does not sanction it. “Soon, the Parliament is set to meet (winter session) and MPs will raise their voice there.”This comes close on the heels of the Supreme Court on November 21 giving its opinion on a Presidential Reference by ruling that governors and the President cannot be bound by judicially imposed timelines. Stalin, however, claimed that the top court’s ruling will have no impact on the April 8th landmark judgment.It had struck down governor Ravi’s decision to reserve 10 re-enacted state bills for Presidential assent after having earlier withheld approval, declaring the move “erroneous” and in violation of the Constitution.A majority of the 10 bills were related to vesting the powers of appointing vice chancellors to state universities from the governor to the state government.