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There were issues that tested patience': TN’s outgoing Governor in farewell note
In October 2017, Banwarilal Purohit was appointed the 14th Governor of Tamil Nadu when the state was reeling under a political crisis following J Jayalalithaa’s death.
Tamil Nadu’s outgoing Governor Banwarilal Purohit released a farewell message on Sunday acknowledging that there were issues and divided opinions during his four-year-long tenure.
“Yes, there were many issues that tested everybody’s patience and perseverance as well as a sense of commitment and goodwill, but the end, the result was always positive for all sections,” Purohit’s farewell note released by the Raj Bhavan read. “Yes, there were points at which different sections stood on the opposite sides of the divide. The State also saw major electoral battles for the Lok Sabha elections and then for the Legislative Assembly elections. Despite all that political acrimony, I found the State of Tamil Nadu and its people very warm and welcoming.”
On late Thursday night, the Rashtrapati Bhavan made new appointments and shuffled Governors. Purohit, who held additional charge as Governor of Punjab was appointed regular Governor in poll-bound Punjab. To replace him, RN Ravi, Governor of Nagaland, was appointed the Governor of Tamil Nadu.
In October 2017, Purohit was appointed 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,” said political commentator, Ramu Manivannan.
In his farewell note, Purhot said, “As custodian of the Constitution in the State’s context, I took certain positions as per the word of the statute. But I am very happy to place on record that the people of all walks of life -- from the streets of Tamil Nadu to the haloed chambers of politics -- understood the correct position and lent their support to my decisions in whatever manner.”
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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He was appointed the Centre’s Interlocutor for the Naga peace talks in August 2014 and Nagaland’s Governor in 2019.
There have been mixed political reactions to Ravi’s appointment. Tamil Nadu’s Congress unit has raised doubts over the BJP-led Union government’s “intention”, wondering if the appointment of an ex-IPS officer was an attempt to target the MK Stalin-led DMK government.
On Friday, state Congress chief KS 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 the L-G of Puducherry while she was also the Governor of Telangana.
“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 MK Stalin,” he said.
However, Stalin and former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami expressed gratitude towards Purohit and welcomed the new Governor for the state.
“Governors are being seen as instruments of the central ruling party,” Manivannan said, adding, “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.”
