Posters thanking people for trending #GetOutRavi on Twitter and other social media platforms were pasted on walls across Chennai on Tuesday, even as Chief Minister M K Stalin told his legislators not to criticize or condemn Governor R N Ravi over his walking out from the Tamil Nadu Assembly in a huff.
The posters printed by DMK cadres with pictures of Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi, and other party leaders were pasted outside Anna Arivalayam, the DMK HQ in Chennai, and in many vantage points of the city.
The hashtag #GetOutRavi trended on Twitter for the whole of Monday with over 1 lakh mentions and the poster thanked the people for the “feat.”
Addressing a meeting of party MLAs, the Chief Minister is believed to have told the legislators to carry on with their regular business and not refrain from criticizing the Governor or his actions in the Assembly on Monday.
“His message to legislators was to continue with their people-related work. The CM feels that there was a design to make the DMK respond to every issue and that the party members should not fall into the trap. We were told to keep off from the governor controversy,” a senior leader told DH.
Another leader said the top brass feels the government and the party gave a “befitting response” to the Governor omitting several portions of the text prepared by the DMK dispensation.
“While the CM moved a resolution in the House demanding that only the address circulated among members will go on record, he also fielded senior minister Thangam Thenarasu to talk about the Governor giving his nod to the speech. The CM feels the issue should be left there,” the leader told DH.
Tuesday also saw sporadic protests against the Governor in Coimbatore and Tiruvannamalai, even as the police protection outside Raj Bhavan was enhanced. College students in Tiruvannamalai held a demonstration against the Governor’s actions and raised slogans like Vaazhga Tamil Nadu (Long Live Tamil Nadu).