Despite SC indictment, TN Guv has not changed, stalling Bill on Kalaignar university: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi sitting on a Bill to establish a university after late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi has opened up yet another confrontation between Chief Minister M K Stalin and the Raj Bhavan.

On Monday, Stalin slammed the Governor, charging him with not changing his “obstructionist” attitude even after the indictment by the Supreme Court.

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Addressing a public meeting in Thanjavur, an emotional Stalin accused the Governor of sitting over the Bill for 40 days. “Had the Governor assented to the Bill, passed unanimously by the State Assembly with political parties cutting across the divide supporting it, the foundation stone for the University, coming at Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, would have been laid and other works would have started,” he said.

“I was initially hesitant to name the University after Kalaignar. But, leaders from several parties have insisted that it should be named after him. On May 2, the Bill was sent to the Governor. It has been 40 days and he is sitting on it without giving assent. What other work a Governor has than to assent the Bills passed by the Assembly? What keeps him so busy? In my 50 years of public life, I have not seen such an obstructionist Governor,” he said, adding that besides reminders, the Higher Education Minister had sought an appointment with the Governor to get the Bill cleared.

He also had a dig at the Governor, warning that he would be forced to submit if the patience of the state was tested beyond limits.

The DMK government of Stalin has named tech-savvy ultra-modern Libraries in Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy after Kalaignar, incidentally the father of the Chief Minister. Government welfare Schemes like the flagship programme of Rs 1000 to home makers among others have been christened after the late patriarch.

Stalin taking on Ravi comes in the backdrop of the apex court’s ruling fixing a timeline for Governors to decide on the Bills without sitting over them indefinitely. Reiterating that the Governors have no discretion, the Court has also fixed the timeline for the President to act on the Bills. The landmark judgment, had deemed as assented to the 10 Bills Ravi had been keeping without taking a decision, including some sent to the President.