In the aftermath of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi’s walking out of the Assembly after Chief Minister M K Stalin moved a resolution to remove the latter’s additions to his government-prepared customary address, DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi has said that Ravi would not have gone home had the latter even gestured with his eyes to the MLAs.
“Your job was to serve what was ordered and not to place something else on one’s plate and ask them to have it… I am not boasting, had Jayalalithaa (former AIADMK chief minister) been alive, he (the governor) would not have gone without being beaten up,” he said at a party meeting on Tuesday.
Bharathi alleged that the governor ran away from the Assembly on Monday and said that if people like (temple affairs minister) Sekar Babu had known about his walking out, the situation would have been different. “We have several Sekar Babus with us. Even if our leader (Stalin) had made a slight gesture with his eyes, would the governor have gone home?” he said, adding that DMK members knew what to do in such a scenario and would have hurled whatever they could catch hold of.
Bharathi asked whether the governor had skipped the name of DMK founder and former chief minister C N Annadurai in his speech because the late Anna had said that “Aatuku dhadi etharku, natuku governor etharku (a goat does not require a beard and a state does not require a governor)”.
Bharathi also said that a governor’s job was akin to that of somebody tasked with removing banana leaves after a feast, and reportedly compared Ravi to a migrant panipuri seller from Bihar.
“You (governor) think that the DMK was shamed by your act in the Assembly. I just want to say that till now Thalapathy Stalin had been the leader of just Tamil Nadu, but through your act, you have proved that he has the quality to lead the nation and send (Prime Minister) Modi home,” he said.
Bharathi said the customary address prepared by the cabinet was sent to the governor on January 5 and that he signed on it on January 7, adding that the governor had enough time to raise any objection to it but he did not do so.
“We trained under Kalaignar (former CM Karunanidhi). We will not say anything without proof. (Industries Minister) Thangam Thennarasu showed the signed copy to the media and that is the reason why each and every media outlet is criticising the governor now,” he said.