Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday alleged that the Raj Bhavan was functioning like the office of the BJP. He said Governor R.N. Ravi’s remarks and actions gave the impression that he was a functionary of the party.
Addressing the media after paying tributes to Muthuramalinga Thevar at the 116th Thevar Jayanthi celebrations and the 61st Guru Puja of the freedom fighter at Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district, he said the Governor’s office had been giving factually incorrect statements on many issues.
When his reaction was sought to the hurling of a petrol bomb near the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, Mr. Stalin said that despite a comprehensive clarification from the police on the action taken over the incident, and the available evidence in the form of video footage, the Governor’s office had issued a statement giving the impression that the petrol bomb was hurled at the Raj Bhavan. “It had fallen on the road,” he emphasised.
Moreover, the police took swift action. There was no compromise on the maintenance of law and order, he said. “When such was the case, the statements given by the Raj Bhavan on every issue were not only wrong, but also incorrect,” the Chief Minister said, justifying his description of the Raj Bhavan as the BJP’s office.
The Governor, the Chief Minister said, did not seem to have understood the difference between ‘Dravidam’ and ‘Aryam’. According to Mr. Stalin, ‘Dravidam’ meant “everything for everyone”, while ‘Aryam’ denoted that certain things were meant for select people (Yellorukum yellam yenasolvathu Dravidam, Innarku Ithuthaan yenbathu Aryam ).
On the demand from some sections to name the Madurai airport after Muthuramalinga Thevar, Mr. Stalin said a proposal had been sent to the Union government.
Hailing the late Forward Bloc leader as someone who was liked by all, Mr. Stalin recalled the long association between Thevar and former Chief Minister Karunanidhi. After the demise of Thevar, when Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister, he had announced that the State government would celebrate the centenary birth anniversary of Thevar in 2007. During this period, infrastructure was built in Pasumpon at an investment of ₹2.50 crore, he said.
He pointed out that the State government had announced that it would build two mandapams at a cost of ₹1.5 crore for the public to pay tributes to Thevar at Pasumpon.
To a query on the fishermen issue, the Chief Minister said he had written to the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister in this regard. Expressing concern over the arrest of fishermen, he said senior DMK leader and MP T.R. Baalu would meet the Union Minister and press the Centre to bring the fishermen lodged in Sri Lankan prisons home. A permanent solution was being sought by the State government, he said, expressing hope that the Centre would act.
Tributes paid
Mr. Stalin was accompanied by his ministerial colleagues K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, Thangam Thennarasu, K.R. Periakaruppan, R.S. Raja Kannappan, P. Moorthy, P.T.R. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Geetha Jeevan, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and T.R.B. Rajaa; MP Nawaz Kani; and MLAs Kadar Basha Muthuramalingam and S. Murugesan, who also paid tributes to the freedom fighter.
Mr. Ravi paid floral tributes to a portrait of Muthuramalinga Thevar at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Monday.
