RN Ravi, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, refuses to read State Government's speech which was critical of Central Government, ignites political tension

For the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu, a Governor refused to read the speech prepared by the State Government at the beginning of the 2024-2025 session of the Legislative Assembly and this has opened yet another battlefront in the ongoing war of nerves between the Chief Minister and the Raj Bhavan.

Every year, the parliament as well as the legislative assemblies begin their budget sessions with speeches to be delivered by the President and the respective Governors of the States concerned. The speech to be delivered by the President is prepared by the Government of India in the case of the joint session of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha while it is the State Governments that prepare the speeches of the Governors. By and large, these speeches do not evoke much controversy though the State Government may be administered by the party rival to the one that governs the Centre.

This year saw Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan skipping the speech prepared by the CPI(M) led Government and just reading out the last two sentences which left Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his comrades flabbergasted. The reasons behind the Governor’s action are explanatory. The speech prepared by the Chief Minister’s Office was a charge sheet against the Centre. The LDF Government blamed the Center for all the economic woes faced by the State and indicted the union finance minister for “throttling” the funds meant for the State.

The speech prepared by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s office went one step further. While “blaming” the Center for not allowing the State to raise finance from non-governmental agencies, the Tamil Nadu Government had incorporated the declaration that the State would not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act enacted by the Centre. There is a ridiculous statement that the granting of citizenship to anybody is the prerogative of the Centre while the State administration has no role in it.

The speech also blamed the Center for not giving enough financial package to the State to address the problems arising out of rains and hailstorms in the months of November and December. But what we saw during the floods was the soldiers of the Disaster Relief Forces deployed by the Centre working round the clock to save the victims from flood and waterlogging. The sailors and aviators of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard too were pressed into service by the Centre to help the people from floods.

Though it is known to all policymakers and politicians in Tamil Nadu that the State has to bear the brunt of recurring floods, the State Government has failed to take proper action to avoid such disasters. The stormwater drains in all cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai etc are in a pathetic state. The State administrations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala have left it to the Center to take whatever solution is needed to address this issue which happens to be the prerogative of the State.

The white paper presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gives a lie to all the charges made by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The summer of 2024 is going to be severe and the Tamil Nadu Government is getting ready to wage a “war” against Karnataka for more water from Kaveri. If the water level in Karnataka’s reservoirs is low, what that State should do is anybody’s guess. Stalin has done nothing to resolve the perpetual water scarcity in Tamil Nadu though the State has a more than 1,000 km long coastline. It is possible to build desalination plants along the East Coast with which the entire water requirements of Tamil Nadu could be met. But the Dravidian major has done nothing other than get some resolutions passed in the legislative assembly and sent the same to the Centre.

A Governor who profoundly disagrees with the State government should not stay in office,” says a pro-CPI (M) newspaper. The issue is should the Governor read out any trash material given to him by the State Government? The Governor is the representative of the Centre and he has work to do. The only drawback against R N Ravi is that he was appointed by the BJP Government at the Centre. The designs and intentions of the DMK as well as the Lefts are very clear.

The Constitution has not said that the Governor should be servile to the Chief Minister and the members of his council of ministers. Articles 153 to 164 deal with the appointment of the Governor and his responsibilities. If the Governor feels that the legislation enacted by the State Legislature is not in synchronization with the Constitution, he will send it back to the Government for review/reconsideration. If the Government is adamant that it would not budge, then the Governor has every right to withhold the Bill and seek legal advice from his lawyers at the Centre. This is what Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said when the ruling CPI(M) wanted to appoint party cadres as vice-chancellors and faculties in the State’s universities. The Supreme Court verdict declaring null and void the appointment of the vice-chancellors has vindicated the Governor’s contention that the selection was in violation of all norms specified by the UGC.

Interestingly, a book “Indian Constitution” by Dr M V Pylee, constitutional expert and former vice chancellor of Cochin University says that if a difference of opinion erupts between the Governor and the council of ministers, the Governor’s decision would prevail. Moreover, the ministry does not have the power to decide what the Governor should or should not do. This book was published by the Kerala Government’s own State Institute of Languages! This is the 17th revised edition published in 2020!

(The writer is a special correspondent for The Pioneer; views are personal)