A day after Governor R.N. Ravi made remarks about investments and education in Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, said the Governor’s comments were “politically motivated” and “completely uncalled for”.
Addressing the media, Mr. Thennarasu said the Governor was speaking at a conference of Vice-Chancellors, where the discussion could have been on the overall academic situation in the State. “Instead, the Governor has chosen to make comments on some other things, which is completely unnecessary and totally uncalled for,” he said.
Terming the Governor’s remarks on investments inappropriate, the Minister noted that the State had received investments to the tune of ₹2 lakh crore since the DMK government assumed office in May 2021.
To a query, Mr. Thennarasu said it was not as if the State government was hell-bent on criticising the Governor. “Only when the Governor exceeds his constitutional obligations or limits, and when he makes unwarranted comments and unnecessary remarks about the functioning of the government, we are left with no option but to come up with a proper explanation.”
Replying to another query, the Minister said, “The relationship between the Governor and the government is very smooth, in fact. We respect the Governor. There is no going back on this, as far as the government is concerned, and as far as the Chief Minister is concerned.”
Earlier, while addressing a press conference at the Secretariat, the Minister reacted to Mr. Ravi’s remarks on the quality of higher education in the State by saying the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings clearly showed that educational institutions in Tamil Nadu fared better than those in other States.
Maintaining that Tamil Nadu continued to lead in higher education, and this was supported by data, the Minister wondered how the Governor, being the Chancellor of State-run universities, could make remarks contradicting the data.
Referring to the Governor’s observations about visiting foreign countries and his contention that it may not help bring investments, the Minister alleged that Mr. Ravi was using the Raj Bhavan to make “political comments”.
Mr. Thennarasu went on to point out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his term as Gujarat Chief Minister, visited China and interacted with industrialists at the Global Investors’ Meet in 2011. Mr. Modi had also visited Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand, among other countries, he said, and wondered whether the Governor’s views were the same with regard to Mr. Modi’s visits, too.
“More than us, the BJP should ask the question. I think the Governor, who has thrown this weapon [asthiram] upon us, has actually thrown this weapon on the Prime Minister..,” Mr. Thennarasu contended.
In 2021-22, 4.79 lakh companies were registered as companies in Tamil Nadu with 36 lakh employees. “In 2022-23, it rose to 7.39 lakh companies in TN with 47 lakh employees,” the Minister said and further underlined the ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ programme implemented by the State government was to hone the skills of students.
“The Governor making such false accusations continuously is not acceptable. The Governor has used the conference of the Vice-Chancellors for his politics. His statements suggest that he is turning himself into a politician,” the Minister said.
He also recalled the Governor’s earlier controversial comment that the State should be called ‘Thamizhagam’ and not Tamil Nadu. The Governor’s recent actions show that he has been “allergic” to the term ‘Dravidam’, the Minister charged.
