Another chapter to the ongoing tussle between the Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi and MK Stalin-led state government was added on Tuesday as the former advised civil services aspirants to stand with the Centre if the central and state governments are not on the same page over any issue.
“If there is any difference between central and state government, there is no doubt that you (civil service aspirants) should be standing with Central Government,” Ravi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been at loggerheads with the BJP over issues such as federalism. Stalin’s party has insisted on using the term Union government as mandated in the Constitution instead of calling it the Centre or central government, which indicates that all power resides with it. When directly translated into Tamil, the party calls it ondriya arasu.
In an address to civil service aspirants on Tuesday, Ravi said he is fine with the usage of the Union government, but he finds the Tamil term ondriya politically problematic. “Ondriyam refers to a sub-district level administrative unit in local governance. The intention seems to belittle the government of India.”
The debate over the governor’s role in state affairs intensified after the first day of the Tamil Nadu assembly session on Monday saw unprecedented scenes. Governor RN Ravi walked out of the House as chief minister MK Stalin moved a resolution to expunge, from records, whatever the governor spoke outside the government-prepared address.
“GetOutRavi” posters cropped up across Chennai while the same hashtag was trending on Twitter on Monday when the governor deviated from the speech prepared by the state government by omitting references to the Dravidian model of governance and to leaders such as BR Ambedkar, ‘Periyar’ E V Ramaswamy, CN Annadurai, and Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi).
He also skipped a paragraph which said the government is founded on the ideals of social justice, self-respect, inclusive growth, equality, women empowerment, secularism, and compassion towards all.
Last week, the governor sparked a controversy when he suggested Tamil Nadu should be renamed Tamizhagam, triggering a sharp response from the DMK.
