Tamil Nadu: Placard reserving seats for BJP at Raj Bhavan Independence Day event sparks controversy

Though no other political party’s name was specifically mentioned in these placards, it particularly named the BJP, raising eyebrows.

Posting a picture of the placard on Twitter, and questioning the need to mention the BJP name specifically, DMK MLA and the party’s IT Wing chief TRB Rajaa said that it backed “the DMK’s stand that the Governor’s post is an aberration in governance”.

“Someone needs to constantly remind the #Governor that his position isn’t a political post, [sic]” he said in the tweet.

Someone needs to constantly remind the #Governor that his position isn’t a political post ??

More proof backing the #DMK ‘s stand that the Governor’s post is an abberation in governance and results in useless expenditure of public funds ??#Federalism

— Dr. T R B Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) August 15, 2022

Rajaa also said it was a matter of shame and “adharma” to give extra importance to “saffron” (BJP) despite the three colours in the national flag being arranged equally with a “dharma” wheel in the middle.

The Raj Bhavan is yet to react to the controversy.

As far as the reception was concerned, Tamil Nadu Opposition leader and the AIADMK’s interim general secretary E Palaniswami and state BJP chief K Annamalai gave it a miss. However, O Panneerselvam — the expelled AIADMK leader — was in attendance.

Governor accused of being a political figure

The debate surrounding the placard comes close on the heels of the much-talked-about meeting between the governor Ravi and actor Rajinikanth at the Raj Bhavan on 9 August, where the latter told media that “politics” was discussed during the meeting, but refused to divulge more details.

This snowballed into a controversy, with Tamil Nadu CPI(M) secretary K Balakrishnan reminding the governor that the Raj Bhavan was not a place to discuss politics.

“The governor’s official residence is not a political party office to discuss politics. The governor should not act as a representative of a particular political party… In an unconstitutional manner, the governor’s office has been turned into a political office,” Balakrishnan said in a series of tweets.

Accusing the governor of acting beyond the limits of his authority, he also asked how much longer the people of Tamil Nadu would tolerate the actions of the governor, which he said have been “against the welfare” of the state.

Though the Raj Bhavan was silent on the controversy, BJP state chief K Annamalai defended Ravi and said there was nothing wrong with Rajinikanth discussing politics with the governor.

This aside, the governor sitting on several bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, and even rejecting the anti-NEET bill once, have also drawn political ire.

Further, Ravi’s constant push for “Sanatan Dharma” and certain controversial policies of the BJP-led Union government — such as the National Education Policy of 2020 — also contributed to cementing the perception of the governor siding with the saffron party despite being a constitutional figure.

BJP says placard could be ‘photoshopped’

When South First spoke to Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy, who attended the reception, he claimed that he never saw any placard specifically mentioning the BJP by name.

“I did not see this placard. The BJP was not specifically mentioned. It only said ‘heads of political parties’. The picture is probably photoshopped and the DMK shared it thinking it was real,” he said.

However, when South First spoke to others who were present at the Raj Bhavan for the event, they confirmed that the placard naming the BJP was indeed in the seating area.

“The placard was there. Maybe Narayanan Thirupathy did not see it because he was sitting on another side,” claimed a journalist who was present at the Raj Bhavan.