Tamil Nadu Accuses Governor Of "Undermining Will Of People", Goes To Court

The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court accusing Governor RN Ravi of intentionally delaying the bills sent to him for clearance. The government urged the court to direct the Governor to give assent or dispose of bills within a specified time frame.

The DMK government and Tamil Nadu governor have been at loggerheads for the past few months. Chief Minister MK Stalin and Centre-appointed Governor Ravi have earlier clashed on pending bills, Mr Stalin's foreign trips, the Dravidian model of governance, and the latter's remarks on the state's name.

In its request to the Supreme Court, the Tamil Nadu government claimed that the bills and orders being forwarded by the state assembly were not being cleared by the Governor on time. Twelve bills, four prosecution sanctions and files relating to the premature release of 54 prisoners are currently pending before Governor Ravi, the government said.

The government also accused the Governor of "undermining the will of people" and "abusing the position of the ceremonial head".

Governor Ravi had earlier this year stirred a debate on the state's name with his remarks on January 4 during an event in Chennai. "Here in Tamil Nadu, a different kind of narrative has been created. Everything that applies to the whole of the country, Tamil Nadu will say no. It has become a habit. So many theses have been written - all false and poor fiction. Truth must prevail. Thamizhagam would be a more appropriate word to call it," he said.

Faced with a massive backlash, he later claimed it was "erroneous and far-fetched" to infer that he had suggested changing the name of the state with his comments on "Tamizhagam" and the Raj Bhavan reverted to using the name Tamil Nadu.

Later, in January itself, RN Ravi walked out of the assembly after MK Stalin moved a resolution asking the Speaker to take on record only the speech prepared by the state government, and remove the portions the Governor added to or skipped from the customary address.