Stalin hits back at Governor for claiming that stature of national freedom fighters from state has been reduced to that of caste leaders.
The state government had sent a file proposing the former DGP Sylendra Babu, soon after his retirement, as its chairman and named 8 other persons for appointment as members
After a temporary lull, relations between the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor are headed south yet again. Two developments highlight the dissonance that has resurfaced between the two.
On Tuesday, 24 October, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi — for the second time — declined to approve the state’s recommendation that retired DGP C Sylendra Babu be appointed chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC).
According to sources South First reached out to, Ravi returned the file sent by the state government, stating that there was no transparency in the process of selection of the chairman.
The second incident happened a day earlier, on Monday, when Ravi claimed that the stature of national freedom fighters who belonged to the state, especially the Maruthu brothers, was reduced to that of caste leaders.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin hit back on this count, saying the DMK government had immortalised the sacrifices of freedom fighters and spread their fame whenever the party was in power.
On the Sylendra Babu file sent by the DMK government, the Governor raised several questions with the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department pertaining to his approval under Article 316 (1) of the Constitution.
He sought to know how the applicants, including the retired DGP, knew about the government’s intention to fill the vacant posts of the commission before applying for the post.
Further, pointing out that the chairman of the commission can hold the office for six years or until attaining the age of 62, the Governor had questioned the age of Sylendra Babu and the time span for which he will hold office.
Pointing to his first letter refusing to accept the state’s recommendations, the Governor emphasised that the directions of the Supreme Court were not followed in the process and advised the government to send the file afresh “with due regard to constitutional and institutional requirements”.
Sylendra Babu retired from service on 30 June at the age of 61, as he had got a two-year tenure as DGP.
In August, Governor Ravi had returned the file regarding the appointment of the chairman and some members of the TNPSC
The state government had sent a file proposing the former DGP Sylendra Babu, soon after his retirement, as its chairman, and named eight other persons for appointment as members.
The Governor returned the file raising several queries regarding the appointments and sought to know whether any advertisement calling for applications for the posts had been published in the public domain.
He also asked for the number of applications received for the vacancies and the process of scrutiny.
The TNPSC, which is supposed to have 14 members, currently has no permanent chairman and has been functioning with only three members, for the past year.
With more than four lakh vacancies in the state government departments, the TNPSC is responsible for the recruitment of personnel into the state’s public service.
It is also responsible for framing recruitment rules, principles to be followed in making appointments and promotions, inter/intradepartmental transfers, and disciplinary matters affecting government servants.
In what is being seen as a veiled retort to Governor Ravi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said the DMK government has always immortalised the sacrifices of freedom fighters whenever it was in power.
Ravi, on Monday, had claimed that the stature of national freedom fighters who belonged to the state, especially the Maruthu brothers, was “reduced to that of caste leaders”,
Stalin also lashed out at those who “showed a sudden patriotic feeling” for the freedom fighters hailing from the state and reminded them that the last days of Mahatma Gandhi would tell the story of “pseudo nationalists”.
The chief minister pointed out that his government had erected a statue for the martyr siblings in Chennai at a cost of ₹34 lakh earlier this year.
The Maruthu Brothers, the first to rebel against the British East India Company rule, were publicly hanged at the Tiruppathur fort on 24 October, 1801.
“Whenever the DMK came to power, it took steps to spread the fame of freedom fighters. Late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi eulogised the life and sacrifices of the Maruthu brothers in a historical novel, ‘Thenpandi Singam‘ (‘The Lion of the South’),” the chief minister said in a post on social media platform X.
தமிழ் நிலத்தின் உரிமைகளைக் காக்கத் தங்கள் உயிரையும் துச்சமென நினைத்த மான மறவர் மருதிருவரின் புகழ் ஓங்குக!
*சின்ன மருதும், பெரிய மருதும் பீரங்கிகளுக்கு முன்னால் வளரியால் வாகை சூடியவர்கள். இவர்கள் வைத்திருந்த வளரிக்கு முன்னால் பீரங்கிகள் சரியும் என்று எழுதினான் பிரிட்டிஷ் அதிகாரி… pic.twitter.com/ttfQiT23dN
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 24, 2023
While paying tributes to the portrait of the Maruthu brothers in Tiruchirappalli, the Governor had said that the celebration of the freedom fighters’ sacrifices had been reduced to just a private affair.
“I wonder if Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel, and Bhagat Singh, too, would have been reduced to caste leaders had they been born in Tamil Nadu. Such is the situation here today. I think this is not acceptable,” Ravi said at the event.
Chief Minister Stalin, without directly naming anyone, said on Tuesday: “The last days of the Father of the Nation will recount the rise of ‘patriots’ who speak politely while harbouring contrary thoughts. It is (about) this lot of Godse (assassin of the Mahatma) that Mahakavi Subramania Bharati sang in his poem Nadippu Sudesigal (Pseudo Nationalists),” Stalin said.
Meanwhile, in a statement, DMK Parliamentarian TR Baalu alleged that it has become the wont of the Governor to speak contrary to the truth, as he is unable to digest the word “Dravidian”. The latest such instance was when he made remarks about the freedom fighters from the state, he said.
The Tamil Nadu government has been honouring the Maruthu brothers as well as Pulithevan, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Velu Nachiyar, Theeran Chinnamalai, Mahakavi Bharati and several other freedom fighters from the state. The government also implemented a pension scheme for the families of freedom fighters, he said.
The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and Ravi have been at loggerheads over several issues from the time he took charge on 18 September, 2021.
Soon after taking oath, Ravi told reporters: “A Governor is to function within the parameters of the Constitution. And I will try my best to keep that in mind. The slate of our (his and the state government) relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in the days to come.”
Since then, the Governor and the government have been playing a cat-and-mouse game.
On 23 October, 2021, a month after taking over as Tamil Nadu Governor, Ravi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.
A Raj Bhavan release, while he was in Delhi, stated that a number of issues concerning the development of the state and the welfare of its people were discussed. Many see that as the beginning of the rift between the DMK government and Ravi.
Following that till recently, there have been numerous instances of the Stalin-led government and the Governor locking horns with each other.
The issues ranged from the appointment of vice-chancellors of state universities to the dismissal of state ministers, and clearing Bills passed by the state Assembly.
The Governor had dismissed or kept on hold many Bills passed by the Assembly, including the anti-NEET Bill and the Bill against online gambling.
There were also issues regarding the comments made by the Governor regarding the government, its leader, and the state.
The rift reached its peak when the Governor demanded the dismissal of state Minister V Senthil Balaji who was arrested in the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
On 31 May this year, Ravi wrote to Stalin, asking him to drop Senthil Balaji from the Cabinet, pointing out the ED raids on the minister. Stalin refused to do so, standing his ground.
On 15 June, Ravi refused to accept the recommendation of a change of portfolios held by Balaji to two other ministers, and again insisted that the chief minister drop him from the Cabinet. A day later, the Governor accepted the recommendation but said that he disagreed with Balaji continuing in the Cabinet.
On 30 June, Ravi unilaterally issued an order dismissing Balaji from the Cabinet, but hours later put his decision in abeyance.
The latest tussle between the government and Governor Ravi was regarding the search-cum-selection committee to appoint a vice-chancellor to the University of Madras.
Ravi had asked the state government to withdraw a gazette notification of a search-cum-selection committee to appoint a vice-chancellor to the University of Madras, terming it “void ab initio”.
In the directive issued on 26 September, the Raj Bhavan said the notification by the principal secretary of the Department of Higher Education was “an act of impropriety”. The notification had excluded the UGC chairman’s nominee from the committee.
(With PTI inputs)
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