Governor should not have returned the Bill against online gambling, says Chidambaram

SIVAGANGA

It was thoroughly wrong on the part of Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi to have returned the Bill against online gambling, said former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram here on Friday.

When the Governor had promulgated an ordinance banning online gambling last year, Mr. Chidambaram wondered from where did the Governor found deficiencies on the part of the State government in passing the Bill. Moreover, the State government had the right to punish the accused in online gambling as it fell under the Criminal laws, he said and added that the TN Legislative Assembly shall send the Bill again to the Governor for his assent.

When Tamil Nadu has been known as a haven of peace from time immemorial, the sudden rumour that Hindi-speaking people (migrant workers) were being targeted was highly mischievous. The Tamil Nadu government should take the mischief-mongers to task as per law, he told journalists.

Blaming the BJP and RSS for the turmoil, Mr. Chidambaram said the “tactics” adopted in other States by the BJP and their allies would not work in Tamil Nadu. Some people claimed that the BJP was growing in Tamil Nadu. It was false and misleading. The BJP, he said, indulged in spreading misinformation and it was a highly dangerous path for it to follow.

He took a dig at the State BJP president K Annamalai’s statement that he would be aggressive. A leader of a political party has to be polite. He or she can be firm, but cannot be aggressive or dictatorial, as it would lead to destruction, the senior Congress leader said.

Appreciating the Sivaganga district administration for opening up libraries in the name of Mahatma Gandhi in the district, Mr Chidambaram said other districts in Tamil Nadu may follow this model. He dedicated a library funded under the MP’s Local Area Development Fund in Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Sivaganga on Friday.