A group of Opposition MPs under the aegis of DMK has petitioned President Droupadi Murmu seeking the removal of Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, accusing him of violating his oath by stalling Bills and propagating "dangerous, divisive, religious rhetoric" with a "calculated intent" to incite hatred.
In a memorandum, which virtually read like a chargesheet, the MPs of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu claimed Ravi violated the oath he took under the Constitution and "proved to be unfit" to hold the Constitutional office of Governor and therefore he "deserves to be sacked immediately".
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Besides DMK, the memorandum -- which listed 20 Bills passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly and not given assent by the Governor, including one seeking exemption to the state from the ambit of the NEET -- was signed by MPs of Congress, VCK, CPI(M) and CPI and submitted to the President's Office on November 2.
The initiative to submit the memorandum was taken by the MK Stalin-led DMK after being at loggerheads with the Governor for months over the delay in signing bills. The latest confrontation came following Ravi's remarks that there was a delay on the part of the state government in handing over the probe into the Coimbatore car explosion to the NIA.
The MPs who signed the memorandum said that retired bureaucrats who are faithful to the ruling BJP are offered the post of Governor as quid pro quo. “These persons do not have the basic knowledge, integrity and impartiality to hold the office of Governor and become an embarrassment to the Government and people of the State," the memorandum said.
They warned that the image of the Governor as “merely an agent of the Union sitting in state capitals and desperately seeking an opportunity to run down the state government when it is in the hands of a party opposed to the party ruling at centre will deform our cooperative federalism and destroy our democracy”.
The memorandum said the Constitution framers never imagined a situation where a Governor “openly contradicts” an 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,” it said.
Placing on record “our dissatisfaction" that the state government's work is obstructed by the Governor, it cited that the NEET Bill did not get Ravi’s assent. The Governor did not forward the Bill to the President as required but sat on it for several months. He "usurped the powers of the President and questioned the wisdom of the Legislature and returned the Bill, which is ultra vires of the powers conferred on a Governor", it said.
The state Assembly had to be reconvened to re-enact the NEET Exemption Bill. 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 unbecoming of a Governor, the MPs said in the memorandum.
Referring to Ravi's controversial remarks, the memorandum said Ravi has developed an unfortunate propensity to publicly profess his lack of faith in the secular ideals of this country and frequently engages in divisive rhetoric. "This is an embarrassment to our government which has utmost commitment to the secular ethos of this nation," it said.
“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 and laws, not any religion," it said.
In the past, it said, Ravi has made similar "communal remarks like praising sanatana dharma, communalising the jewel of Tamil literature – the 'Thirukural' and denouncing Dravidian heritage and Tamil pride. These statements have caused deep wounds to the Tamil sentiment and pride, it added.
"In recent times the retired bureaucrats who are/were faithful to the ruling party in the Union Government, are offered the post of Governor as quid pro quo. These persons do not have the basic knowledge, integrity and impartiality to hold the office of Governor and become an embarrassment to the Government and people of the State," the memorandum said.
"The image of the Governor as merely an agent of the Union sitting in state capitals and desperately seeking an opportunity to run down the state government when it is in the hands of a party opposed to the party ruling at centre will deform our cooperative federalism and destroy our democracy," it said.