Tamil Nadu Assembly urges Centre, President to instruct Governor to grant assent to Bills within a specific period

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urging the Union Government and President Droupadi Murmu to issue appropriate instructions to Governor R.N. Ravi, to give his assent to the Bills passed by the Assembly, within a specific period.

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urging the Union Government and President Droupadi Murmu to issue appropriate instructions to Governor R.N. Ravi, to give his assent to Bills passed by the Assembly, within a specific period.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said he was under a compulsion to move a resolution against the Governor for the second time. He reiterated that “unwarranted circumstances” were not created by the government. Accusing the Governor of functioning with political motives and converting the “Raj Bhavan into a Political Bhavan”, he recalled the observation of the Justice Rajmannar Committee that “it is an appropriate time to abolish the post of Governor and the Governor should be a detached figure.”

In January this year, the Assembly had moved a resolution disapproving of the Governor’s selective deviation from the prepared text, of his customary address to the House.

Last week, on April 7, Governor R.N. Ravi had said, that if a Governor withholds assent to a Bill passed by the Assembly, it means the “Bill is dead”.

Before Mr. Stalin moved the resolution, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, who is also the Leader of the House, moved a resolution to suspend certain rules of the Assembly so that the resolution against the Governor could be taken up for discussion.

Legislators of the AIADMK, the main Opposition party staged a walkout even before the resolution was moved alleging that Speaker M. Appavu had not accepted their demand to recognise the Deputy leader of the Opposition. Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami also alleged that live telecast of the Assembly proceedings had been denied to Opposition leaders, while the replies of State Ministers were telecast in detail.

Tamil Nadu Speaker M. Appavu ordered voting on the resolution, since three-fourth of the members of the House need to support a resolution as per Rule 287 of the Assembly Rules. The doors of the Assembly were closed for the voting, which was done by counting the members in favour of, and against the resolution. As many as 144 of the 146 members present in the House voted in favour of moving the resolution. Only two MLAs of the BJP, M.R. Gandhi and C. Saraswathi, who were present in the House, opposed it and subsequently, staged a walkout.