Tamil Nadu Congress unit has raised doubts over the Union government’s “intention” behind the appointment of a new governor for the state, wondering if it was an attempt to target the MK Stalin-led DMK.
On late Thursday night, the Rashtrapati Bhavan made new appointments and shuffled governors, including R N Ravi, governor of Nagaland who was appointed as the governor of Tamil Nadu. Ravi replaces Banwarilal Purohit, who held additional charge as governor of Punjab and is now appointed as regular governor in poll-bound Punjab.
Incoming governor, Ravi was born in Bihar and joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1976, and was allotted the Kerala cadre. He has also held positions in the CBI and IB. He was appointed as the Centre’s interlocutor for the Nagaland peace talks in August 2014 and was appointed as Nagaland governor in 2019.
On Friday, state Congress chief K S Alagiri referred to the case of another former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who he said as lieutenant governor (L-G) of the neighbouring union territory of Puducherry, interfered with the functioning of the Congress government there. The Congress government eventually fell earlier this year, owing to a spate of resignations of MLAs, some of whom jumped ship to the BJP. The Congress had often met the President to recall Bedi, accusing her of running a parallel administration and not allowing for welfare schemes to be implemented. She was eventually replaced by former Tamil Nadu BJP-chief Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was given additional charge as LG of Puducherry while she was also the governor of Telangana.
Alagiri brought up their common police background. “The appointment of a retired police officer as Tamil Nadu governor has raised suspicion,” Alagiri said in a statement. “I suspect that Ravi has been appointed to create problems for chief minister M K Stalin.”
{{/usCountry}}Alagiri brought up their common police background. “The appointment of a retired police officer as Tamil Nadu governor has raised suspicion,” Alagiri said in a statement. “I suspect that Ravi has been appointed to create problems for chief minister M K Stalin.”
{{/usCountry}}However, Stalin and former chief minister Edappadi Palanwami expressed gratitude towards Purohit and welcomed the new governor for the state. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, President Ram Nath Kovind released late on Thursday night said that new appointments will take effect when they take charge of their respective offices.
In October 2017, Purohit was appointed as the 14th Governor of Tamil Nadu when the state was reeling under a political crisis following J Jayalalithaa’s death in office as chief minister in December 2016. He has been embroiled in several controversies during his stint. He also leaves the state office having avoided taking a decision on the clemency plea of one of the convicts serving a sentence for former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and handing the decision over to the President of India stating that he was the right person to rule on this. “Evasion is not a constitutional act,” says political commentator, Ramu Manivannan. “Governors are being seen as instruments of the central ruling party. This office seems to be functioning against the tenets of a federal system and we should address the office of the Governor through political and constitutional reforms to bring in accountability for their actions.”