DMK, allies urge President Droupadi Murmu to recall Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi

CHENNAI: DMK and its allies submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu on Monday, demanding the recall of Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi. The move to submit the memorandum addressed to the President came after they failed to get an audience with Murmu.
"Forty-six out of the 50 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, belonging to DMK and allied parties, signed the memorandum," said a senior DMK functionary. A copy of the memorandum was sent to the office of Union home minister Amit Shah. The memorandum said Ravi was "unfit to hold the constitutional office" and listed 20 bills awaiting his assent. The governor, a nominee of the Centre and an unelected person opposing an elected state government, was a perversion of the constitutional set-up and a death knell to democracy, the MPs said.

Without an audience with President Droupadi Murmu, the DMK and allies on Monday submitted to Rashtrapati Bhavan a memorandum demanding recall of Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi. The nine-page memorandum, addressed to the President, said Ravi was "unfit to hold the Constitutional office" and listed 20 Bills pending his assent. The Bills include Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill to replace the ordinance promulgated last month.
A copy of the memorandum was also handed over to the office of Union home minister Amit Shah. "Forty-six out of the 50 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, belonging to DMK and allied parties, signed the memorandum," said a senior DMK leader, seeking anonymity. The DMK, however, waited until Wednesday morning to inform journalists that the memorandum was handed over to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the home minister's office.

In the memorandum, the MPs said the TN governor "violated the oath taken by him to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution". He has been "instigating communal hatred and is a threat to the peace and tranquility" of the state, the memorandum said. "Some might even consider his statements as seditious as they bring or attempt to bring hatred or contempt or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law," it added.
The governor, the memorandum said, had "developed an unfortunate propensity to publicly profess his lack of faith in the secular ideals of the country and frequently engaged in divisive rhetoric". The governor has been "unabashedly propagating dangerous, divisive, religious rhetoric in public, which is unbecoming of a governor", it said.
"His speeches are made with a calculated intent to incite hatred and create communal unrest among the people," the MPs said, pointing to Ravi's recent comment that "India is dependent on one religion like the rest of the world".

Kerala plans ordinance to remove guv as chancellor
The tussle between Kerala’s LDF government and governor Arif Mohammed Khan came to a head on Wednesday with the state cabinet deciding to bring an ordinance to strip the governor of the chancellor’s post. A CMO press note said the ordinance aims to appoint eminent academics as vice chancellors of the state’s universities.
The governor is unlikely to acquiesce and in interviews to select TV channels hinted that he would not hesitate to refer the matter to the President. If that happens, it could trigger another crisisas the state assembly won’t be able to pass the bill until the President acts.
The government seems intent to use the governor’s possible non-cooperation to trigger protests against him and the Union government with the support of non-BJP state governments. LDF’s main constituent CPM plans to hold a meet of representatives of non-BJP governments in Delhi to chart out strategies against “recalcitrant” governors. Uniting them would be a challenge because KPCC president K Sudhakaran said Congress will strongly oppose the LDF move to remove the governor as chancellor.
Telangana governor says TRS likely tapping her phone
Telangana governor Tamilisai Sounderarajan on Wednesday opened another front against the state government, saying she has “a feeling” that her phone was being tapped. Her allegation comes amid the Poachgate row and a standoff with the government over the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, which she has refused to clear.
Talking to reporters, Sounderarajan said she was upset with attempts to link Raj Bhavan to the Poachgate controversy. “They (TRS) have been making unfounded claims in the Poachgate case on their Twitter accounts, saying Raj Bhavan is involved and mentioning Tushar Bhasin, who served as my aide-decamp. He called to wish me on Deepavali, that is all.”
She said she didn’t want to talk about the poaching case as it is being investigated, “but how can they name my aide-de-camp in their tweets? I get a feeling that they are tapping my phone,” she said. “I have nothing to hide from the people and nothing to fear. ”