DMK-led alliance to hold stir against Guv
Both the state government and governor have been locked in a standoff over various issues for quite some time, including the latter’s pending assent to nearly 20 bills which the state cabinet cleared since he took office in September 2021
Chennai:
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu on Friday announced to hold a protest next week against governor R N Ravi for “creating unnecessary tension, controversies and social upheaval” in the state, a day after his remarks on clearing assembly bills triggered a political row.
“He is creating unnecessary tension, controversies and social upheaval in Tamil Nadu. A governor’s post is not necessary in any state,” the alliance said in a statement.
“In whichever state the BJP is not in power, they are running a dual government through a government,” it added.
During an interaction on giving assent to a bill, with civil service aspirants at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, Ravi said the governor has three options: “One, assent; second, withhold the assent – withholding doesn’t mean that I am holding it. Withholding has been defined by the Supreme Court as the bill falls through, the bill is dead. It is a decent language used instead of the word ‘reject’. When you say ‘withhold’, the bill is dead. Third option, the governor reserves the bill for the President of India.”
His comments came under fire from the DMK government with chief minister M K Stalin saying it was “unbecoming” of a person who holds a Constitutional position to “withhold without boldly accepting or opposing” the bills.
The coalition on Friday said it will protest in front of Raj Bhavan on April 14.
“The governor of Tamil Nadu is acting defiantly. He has not given us a proper explanation for keeping files pending with him but he has told these students what it means to keep a bill pending with him,” it said in the statement.
Both the state government and governor have been locked in a standoff over various issues for quite some time, including the latter’s pending assent to nearly 20 bills which the state cabinet cleared since he took office in September 2021.
According to the Constitution, the governor cannot reject a bill sent by the assembly. He can return a bill to the government with his objections or observations and if the assembly clears it for a second time, he can either give his consent or forward the bill for the President’s consideration. However, the Constitution does not provide a timeframe for the governor to decide on either of the two.
Of the nearly 20 bills, governor Ravi returned two to the House. The Undergraduate Medical Courses, 2021 Bill, which seeks to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), was returned last February for reconsideration.
The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Games Bill, which seeks to ban online gambling, was returned in March this year as the governor contended that the state assembly is not competent to frame a law on the subject.
The state assembly re-adopted both these bills for the second time and has sent it to the governor for his assent. While the anti-NEET bill is with the ministry of home affairs, the bill against online gambling is still in Raj Bhavan.
Former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidamabram said the governor’s definition of withholding assent is “strange and peculiar”. “He has said that it means the Bill is dead. Actually, when a governor withholds assent for no valid reason, it means ‘Parliamentary Democracy is dead’,” he tweeted.
“Governor is bound to grant assent or withhold assent or return the Bill. If the Bill is passed again, Governor is obliged to grant assent. Governor is a mere Constitutional functionary. He is the symbolic head. His powers are severely restricted. He has no powers in most matters. A governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the chief minister and the Council of Ministers. By transgressing their powers, BJP-appointed Governors are trampling upon democracy,” added.
At the event on Thursday, Ravi also stoked another controversy through his remarks that the anti-nuclear power plant protests in Kudankulam in 2012 and anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi in 2018 were “foreign-funded”.
“We don’t need such a governor,” the coalition said.
BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy recalled that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had also said the Kudankulam protests were foreign funded. “So if Manmohan says its not wrong but if governor says it’s wrong, is it?”
