The tumultuous tenure of R.N. Ravi as Tamil Nadu Governor

The Governorship of retired IPS officer R.N. Ravi in Tamil Nadu lasting over four years, was among the most tumultuous if not dramatic and eventful tenures the State ever witnessed. From regularly walking out from the Assembly to raising issues over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to the State-run universities, Mr Ravi and the DMK government led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin were rarely on the same page.

On Thursday evening, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Mr. Ravi as the Governor of West Bengal and appointed Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to discharge the functions of Governor of Tamil Nadu.

The constant tension between the Governor and the Chief Minister also ranged between the choice of Ministers in Mr. Stalin’s Cabinet, the withholding of assent for several Bills adopted by the State Legislative Assembly and seeking to play down the Dravidian ideology by terming it a mere “political slogan”. The discord also played out in the open even over symbolism involving Tamil icons -- over the robe of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar and over associating Saint Vallalar with sanatana dharma.

At some point, the tensions between the Governor and the Chief Minister even turned personal. Some unpleasant exchanges were made on the social media, in which Mr. Stalin wondered if Mr. Ravi was the “Governor” or an “Aryan” and an agitated Mr. Ravi terming the CM’s comments “unfortunately cheap” and “racist.” Mr. Stalin, on more than one occasion, took dig at the Governor, by observing that Mr. Ravi’s continuing as the Governor post was in deed aiding the DMK party in its electoral prospects.

The disagreements even turned into a legal battle, when Mr. Stalin’s government moved the Supreme Court and went on to win the State of Tamil Nadu Vs. Governor of Tamil Nadu case, considered one of the legal milestones in the country favouring elected State governments. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Governor Ravi was among the primary reasons for the DMK government’s current tenure to constitute the high-level committee on the Union-State relations. The DMK government’s pioneering call in advocating State autonomy only grew louder during Mr. Ravi’s Governorship.

Though the DMK government differed with the Union government on multiple fronts, the disagreements with New Delhi were not as dramatic, as those with Governor Ravi and his office in Guindy. While his predecessor Banwarilal Purohit maintained a strict tone, Mr. Ravi made his disagreements public, dramatic and in fact political. The Governor post is often called the face of the Union government in the State and Mr. Ravi lived it.

Mr Ravi had also controversially ‘dismissed’ former Minister V Senthilbalaji from the Cabinet only to keep the decision in abeyance on the advise of the Union Home Minister. He was once pulled up by the Supreme Court for refusing to re-induct K Ponmudy in the Cabinet though the court had suspended his sentence in a corruption case.

To his credit, Mr. Ravi brought in significant changes in his sprawling official residence. It was his idea that made the Union Home Ministry rename the Raj Bhavans as the Lok Bhavans. In his tenure, the Lok Bhavan at Udhagamandalam in the Nilgiris district, went beyond hosting VIPs and hosted meetings with Vice-Chancellors of State-run universities. When he is the chief guest in convocations, academicians from institutions in other States were invited to share their ideas.

Mr. Ravi also outlined the challenges facing the State often contending atrocities were committed against the Scheduled Castes and that there were crimes against women. Mr. Ravi also instituted awards to honour personalities in ‘Social Service’ and ‘Environmental Protection’ categories. If at all there was one place where Mr. Ravi and Mr. Stalin stood together, it was the podium under the national flag when they honoured the tricolour, overlooking their differences.