Chennai: Charging that Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi is unfit to hold the gubernatorial post, MPs of the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance in a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday called for his immediate removal.
In the memorandum, delivered at the office of the President in New Delhi, the MPs charged Ravi has violated the oath he took under Article 159 to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of Tamil Nadu.
“Far from it, he has been instigating communal hatred, and is a threat to the peace and tranquillity of the State. Some might even consider his statements as seditious as his statements bring or attempt to bring into hatred or contempt, or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law,” they alleged.
Governor openly contradicts the policy of the elected State
“The framers of the Constitution would never have imagined a situation where a Governor openly contradicts the policy of the elected State Government or impedes legislation passed by the legislature by indefinitely delaying assent or acts against secularism. Such a situation can only be described as autocracy. Yet, such a situation prevails in Tamil Nadu,” the memorandum said.
The MPs recorded dissatisfaction that “the work being done by the Tamil Nadu Government and the Legislature is being obturated by the office of the Governor by openly contradicting its policy in public and unduly delaying assent to Bills.”
He was unduly delaying assent to the Bills
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has enacted several important Bills and sent them to the Governor for assent. However, the Governor was unduly delaying assent to the Bills.
“This amounts to interference in the administration of the State and transaction of business by the Legislature. It impedes and obstructs a democratically elected Government from serving the people, which is ex-facie unconstitutional,” the memorandum argued.
It is trite that under the scheme of our Constitution, a Governor cannot sit as an appellate authority over the decision of the Cabinet or the Legislature, the MPs said. “The Governor is not performing his primary function in our State,” the MPs said citing various Bills that were pending assent from Ravi.
NEET exemption bill was returned without even forwarding it to the President
They noted that the NEET exemption bill was returned by the Governor in the first instance without even forwarding it to the President. “This shows that the Governor is acting against the collective will of the people as expressed by the State Legislative Assembly. These are all acts of unbecoming of a Governor,” the MPs said.
The memorandum accused Ravi of having developed an unfortunate propensity to publicly profess his lack of faith in the secular ideals of this country and frequently engaging in “divisive rhetoric”.
His speeches are made with a calculated intent to incite hatred and create communal unrest among the people. Recently he made a comment that “India is dependent on one religion like the rest of the world”.
This statement is an affront to India’s Constitution. India is dependent on its Constitution & laws, not any religion, the MPs said.
