DMK Govt’s face-off with Governor

The latest instance, in a series of unsavory confrontations between state governors and chief ministers, is the one which unfolded in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday. At the end of the face-off with MLAs of the ruling party, Governor R. N. Ravi walked out as Chief Minister MK Stalin moved a resolution against him. Stalin asked the Speaker to take on record only the official speech prepared by the DMK government. Stalin remarked that not adhering to the speech given by the state government was against the traditions of legislative business. The tension between the DMK government and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi had been brewing for some time. Recently, the Governor made a statement saying that Tamil Nadu had seen regressive politics over the last five decades. This was interpreted by many political analysts as a broad reference to the Dravidian model of governance. Condemning Monday’s incident in the assembly BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai said that the Governor need not read out phrases like the Dravidian model since it was not a DMK party event. He pointed out that it was immature and disrespectful on Stalin’s part to move a resolution against the Governor when he was still in the assembly. Stalin and the ruling DMK have been uneasy with Governor Ravi on previous occasions as well. In June 2022, for example, Governor Ravi in a speech observed that Sanatana Dharma upholds unity in diversity. This riled the DMK and its treasurer T. R. Baalu hit out against the Governor and demanded that he retract his remarks. Similarly, the Governor hit the nail on its head when he said in October last year that the spiritual nature of the Thirukkural had been downplayed by vested interests. The British, driven by a spirit of evangelism, first despiritualised it and this version came in handy for those who did not believe in God, the Governor said, in an oblique reference to the Dravidian parties. His remarks did not go down well with the DMK government. In November last year, the ruling DMK submitted a memorandum to President Draupadi Murmu asking her to remove Governor Ravi from his post. The memorandum stated that the Governor had been obstructing the work of the legislature by delaying assent to bills. It also said that the Governor’s remarks on Thirukkural amounted to communalising it and that his observations on Sanatana Dharma were against the spirit of secularism. The DMK is not the only party that has gone on a warpath against the Governor of a state. We see this pattern recurring in state after state where political parties expect the Governor to be compliant and more of a rubber stamp than a constitutional head of the state. We had seen this in the case of the MVA government in Maharashtra headed by Uddhav Thackeray. As many analysts point out, the CPM government in Kerala has crossed the Lakshman Rekha of political etiquette several times in its disrespectful attitude towards Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. Mamata Banerjee was constantly at loggerheads when the current Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar was the Governor of West Bengal. Not a day passes by without Arvind Kejriwal or his party functionaries lashing out at the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. The BRS government and Telangana and party leaders similarly, have a gripe against Governor, Dr. TamilisaiSoundararajan, and KCR, as well as his ministers and party leaders have demonstrated this on multiple occasions. It is time state governments stopped this disrespectful attitude towards governors and allow them to perform their constitutional duty even if it is to their dislike.