Stalin attends Governor’s reception, DMK MLAs stay away

Stalin, Speaker M Appavu, and Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan were among those who attended the the 'At Home' reception hosted by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi, even as DMK MLAs largely boycotted it.

Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin and his cabinet colleagues on Thursday attended the 'At Home' reception hosted by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi, even as the MLAs belonging to the ruling DMK, and alliance partners boycotted the event in protest against the Governor’s attitude towards the state government.

Stalin, Speaker M Appavu, and Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan are among the prominent persons from the government who attended the meeting. The DMK boycotted the event along with Congress, CPI, MDMK, and MMK who accused the governor of acting against the interests of the state.

As reported in DH on August 15, the Chief Minister attended the event with his Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu making a clear distinction between the party and the government.

“As a political party, the DMK has differences with the Governor. But our Chief Minister M K Stalin believes that the institution of the Governor should be treated with the respect it deserves. That is the reason the government decided to participate in the reception,” Thennarasu told reporters.

Despite differences within the party, Stalin, according to sources, said the government should be represented in the event by none other than him as he didn’t want people to think that his government was involved in a confrontation with the Governor.

“We still have a lot of differences with the governor but as long as he stays in the post, we should respect him. That’s the reason the government participated but the DMK MLAs and leaders stay away to express solidarity with allies,” a source explained.

The DMK government had in the past boycotted the Governor’s reception in April 2022 to protest his action of not sending the NEET bill to the President of India.

Though there has been no fresh confrontation between the Raj Bhavan and Fort St George, the seat of power of the Tamil Nadu government, the alliance partners said the “arrogant attitude” of the Governor doesn’t allow their “conscience” to attend the party.

State-run universities are the biggest casualty of the Governor-Government stalemate as the post of vice-chancellors is vacant in at least five universities.

While the Governor insists that the search panel should include a representative from the University Grants Commission (UGC), the DMK dispensations believes otherwise. The state government contended that the panel was sufficient with three members, but the Governor wanted a fourth member to be added, only to withdraw the notifications later.