MK Stalin To Boycott Governor's Independence Day Reception Over "Anti-Tamil Nadu Acts"

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will boycott Governor RN Ravi's customary "At Home" Independence Day reception this evening, marking a sharp escalation in the state government's confrontation with Raj Bhavan.

The government has cited what it calls the Governor's "anti-Tamil Nadu acts" as the reason for the snub. In a coordinated move, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy will also skip two upcoming university convocations, amplifying the ruling DMK's protest.

At the heart of the standoff is the Governor's decision to refer to President Droupadi Murmu a Bill passed by the Assembly to establish Kalaignar University in honour of the late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The DMK sees this as a deliberate attempt to delay assent, undermining the legislative authority of the state.

This comes against the backdrop of repeated clashes over Bills passed by the Assembly but kept pending at Raj Bhavan - a dispute that earlier saw the Supreme Court step in and declare several such Bills "deemed to have been assented to."

The Supreme Court had also fixed a timeline with a maximum of three months to dispose of bills. It also ruled Governors and the President do not have any discretionary powers. 

The latest flashpoint was Governor Ravi's Independence Day address, in which he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre's achievements extensively, but offered no positive mention of the Tamil Nadu government or Mr Stalin.

Towards the end, he flagged "very serious challenges" in Tamil Nadu - including alleged educational and social discrimination against the poor, suicide rates double the national average, sharp rises in synthetic drug abuse among youth with "alleged patronage of the power-that-be," and a steep increase in sexual offences against women and children.

Responding sharply, Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister KN Nehru accused the Governor of acting as an "agent of Nagpur" and spreading baseless allegations without contributing anything to the Tamil language or the state's welfare.

He said the Governor's statement, coming just a day after a PhD scholar refused to accept her degree from him in protest, was a political outburst fuelled by frustration over being boycotted by DMK allies at the Independence Day reception.

Mr Nehru charged that the Governor's claims on crime and governance ignored official statistics showing Tamil Nadu's economic growth at 11.19% and the state's leadership in education, gender equality, and entrepreneurship.

He said the Centre had neglected Tamil Nadu's legitimate demands for disaster relief and education funding, while pushing "Aryan imposition" and divisive schemes.

"Reading the Governor's statement would make even (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah laugh," Mr Nehru quipped, adding that the people of Tamil Nadu "do not give him the respect due to a Governor" because he functions like "a political adversary" rather than a constitutional head.

Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan is yet to respond to the boycott or the Minister's remarks.