Cong, Left parties to boycott Guv’s tea party; TNCC to picket Raj Bhavan

CHENNAI: Allies of the ruling DMK, mainly the Congress and left parties on Wednesday announced that they would boycott the tea party to be hosted by Raj Bhavan on Republic Day in protest of Governor R N Ravi's recent remarks belittling the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi to the Indian freedom movement.

Congress legislature party leader K Selvaperunthagai on Wednesday condemned the governor's remarks and said that Ravi has been functioning like a BJP spokesperson and the Congress (legislature) party would boycott the tea party to be hosted by Governor Ravi in condemnation of his remarks.

Alleging that Ravi has been functioning with the intent to create a political confusion in the state since the day he assumed office of the state governor on September 18, 2021, Selvaperunthagai said that his functioning was such that the Tamil Nadu parties had to seek his recall and he has courted controversy many times by airing views on history from the point of view of the BJP.

State Congress president K S Alagiri said that the governor's statement about Mahatma Gandhi, who is loved world over as a symbol of India, was akin to insulting 140 crore Indians.

Announcing that he would lead a protest march of the party from Rajiv Gandhi statue in Little Mount to Raj Bhavan condemning the governor on January 27, Alagiri said that no one can allow such views being aired by people like R N Ravi who comes from the tradition of celebrating Nathuram Godse as a martyr.

The Tamil Nadu unit of CPI has also announced that it would boycott the Republic Day tea party to be hosted by the governor.

In April 2022, the ruling DMK had boycotted the "at home reception" offered by governor Ravi in protest of his delaying assent to the Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly seeking exemption for the state from NEET.