Neither Tamil Nadu nor its Governor Ravindra Narayan Ravi is a stranger to controversies. However, the last three-odd years of the tenure of the 72-year-old Governor, a retired IPS officer of the Kerala cadre (1976 batch), has all along been full of controversies.
As an officer of the Intelligence wing in the police initially and an interlocutor subsequently for the Naga peace process for seven years, Mr. Ravi, who was also Nagaland Governor during August 2019-September 2021, must have used his diplomatic skills greatly. This could be seen from the fact that he, as the Union government’s representative, signed a framework agreement with one of the rebel Naga groups in New Delhi on August 3, 2015. It was another matter that he later courted one controversy after another as the Governor of the northeastern State.
But, in the case of the southern State, the trouble began more than 40 months ago even before Mr. Ravi became the 26th Governor of Tamil Nadu. The then chief of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, K.S. Alagiri, questioned the motive behind Mr. Ravi’s shift and recalled how another retired police officer Kiran Bedi, as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (May 2016-February 2021), and the former Congress government, headed by V. Narayanasamy, had fractious ties.
Sign of trouble
The first sign of trouble between the Governor and the DMK government, led by M.K. Stalin, was visible over the issue of clearance to the legislation seeking exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses. The latter gradually found that Mr. Ravi was not acting as a facilitator for sending the Bill to the President for assent. It was then — January 2022 — that the DMK began making its demand for his ouster. After Mr. Ravi sent back the Bill on the ground that it was against the interests of students from rural areas and economically weaker sections, the State Assembly in February 2022 re-adopted it and returned it to him. Eventually, the Governor had referred the Bill to the President, leaving the matter pending. On many other Bills, the State government had to seek remedy from the Supreme Court, which, in November 2023, described as a “serious concern” the “constitutional deadlock” created by Mr. Ravi. On February 7, 2024, the top court asked whether the Governor referred to the President 10 Bills re-passed by the State legislature only to avoid having to give consent to them.
Mr. Ravi is in no way different with regard to higher education where he has a direct role to play in the form of Chancellor of State Universities, six of which have not been having Vice Chancellors (VCs). For the purpose of selecting VCs, he is pushing for the implementation of the UGC’s 2018 Regulations, which stipulates the formation of a panel of 3-5 persons, including a nominee of the UGC chief. But the DMK government is citing an order passed by its predecessor AIADMK government in January 2021, which did not accept the stipulation.
Mr. Ravi also raised many eyebrows in May-June 2023 vis a vis Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji. After the Supreme Court cleared the decks for the law enforcement authorities to proceed against the Minister in a case of alleged corruption, the Governor initially suggested to Mr. Stalin to drop him from the Cabinet. Later, he rejected the Chief Minister’s recommendation for retaining him as a Minister without portfolio, immediately after the Minister’s arrest. He had unilaterally “dismissed with immediate effect” Mr. Senthilbalaji from the Cabinet, only to retract later in the day.
Mr. Ravi’s refusal to toe the line of the State government during the Governor’s customary address to the Assembly has become an annual feature. The Governor has also emerged as a bitter critic of the political philosophy of the Dravidian movement. It is for no reason that Mr. Stalin, who had once wanted him to be axed, is urging the Centre not to disturb Mr. Ravi, who is remaining in his office informally on a borrowed time, as the Chief Minister contends that the Governor’s continuation has helped the DMK grow further in the State.
Published – February 16, 2025 01:28 am IST