Governor to reconsider visits to districts: Stalin

DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin said that Governor Banwarilal Purohit had promised him that he would reconsider making visits to various parts of the State, after the DMK raised the issue with the Governor during a meeting at the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

Mr. Stalin, accompanied by DMK principal secretary Durai Murugan, visited Raj Bhavan on the invitation of the Governor. Mr Purohit had invited them to discuss the row over the appointment of Tamma Suryanarayana Sastry as the Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University. Mr. Stalin and other Opposition leaders had opposed Mr. Sastry’s appointment, alleging that his name was not on the shortlist recommended by the Vice-Chancellor Search Committee.

As for the DMK leader’s contention that Mr. Sastry had faced disciplinary action in the past, the Governor accepted it but noted that a special committee constituted to look into the issue had given him a clean chit. “We told the Governor that his visits to various districts for conducting review meetings were against the spirit of State autonomy, especially when an elected State government was in place,” Mr. Stalin told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan.

Mr. Stalin said the Governor contended that he had not been conducting reviews but only visiting places to gauge the levels of development there. “We told the Governor that he can say there is no government in place and then go on reviewing and we would not oppose it,” he said. “The Governor told us that he would think over and take a decision on what we have asked [of] him,” he added.

V-C selection process

Earlier, the Governor informed Mr. Stalin of the process adopted to select the Vice-Chancellor and explained that Mr. Sastry’s name figured among the panel of three names shortlisted by the search committee.

When asked if he was satisfied with the Governor’s action of inviting him over, Mr. Stalin said, “It is praise-worthy.” When asked what the DMK would do if the Governor continued visiting various districts, he said, “There should be an official word from him or the State government, saying he was not undertaking a review. Then, we will decide on the issue.”