CPI seeks President's intervention against Governor over remarks

CHENNAI: CPI State secretary M Veerapandian on Sunday criticised Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar over his remarks inviting people to approach Raj Bhavan with their grievances, alleging that he was attempting to function as a parallel government.

Governor cannot function as a parallel government

In a statement, Veerapandian said the Governor's remarks at a book release function held at Raj Bhavan on Saturday, where he said people could approach Raj Bhavan to seek solutions to their problems and that those working to address social inequalities could seek assistance from the Governor's office, amounted to an open declaration of running a parallel government against the democratically elected State government.

He alleged that the Governor's actions constituted an overreach of authority and amounted to direct interference in the State government's administration.

Veerapandian urged the Tamil Nadu government and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to immediately initiate legal and political measures to prevent what he described as the Governor's abuse of authority.

Appeals to President for intervention

He said the Supreme Court had, in an earlier legal battle initiated by the Tamil Nadu government, clearly and unequivocally defined the constitutional limits of a Governor's powers.

The CPI leader also urged President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and take appropriate action against the Governor for allegedly acting beyond the authority conferred by the Constitution and disregarding the Supreme Court's rulings.