A Governor of a State acting in a manner that is deliberately at loggerheads with an elected Chief Minister is detrimental to the people’s welfare, said CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan on Monday, in Dharmapuri. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has every right to call him (T.N. Governor R. N. Ravi) out, Mr. Balakrishnan said.
Referring to a letter CM Stalin wrote to President Droupadi Murmu with regard to Governor Ravi, Mr. Balakrishnan said BJP State president K. Annamalai had no business critiquing this letter. Is the Governor Mr. Annamalai’s agent, for him to come to his defense,” he asked. “We insist that the President recall Governor Ravi,” he said.
The Left party leader also claimed that the BJP in Tamil Nadu was a cesspool, harbouring the corrupt, history-sheeters, real estate mafia elements and criminals.
Alluding to the Union government’s interference in the State affairs, Mr. Balakrishnan also questioned the backing out of President Droupadi Murmu from inaugurating the Kalaignar Centenary Super Specialty Hospital in Guindy, Chennai. “The President, however, took time out to participate in Isha Yoga Center’s programmes (earlier). [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi and [Home Minister] Amit Shah have a hand in the President’s decisions,” he claimed.
Price rise
The Central government’s hands-off approach vis-à-vis the market on the one hand, and its extractive taxation and fuel prices on the other, have had a combined impact on the price rise of essential commodities, Mr. Balakrishnan said. The government does not come forward to provide remunerative prices for farmers during excess production, allowing traders to fix the market, he alleged. Last year, farmers were forced to dump tomatoes in water bodies and mow down vegetables in the field, for want of better prices. The government should procure vegetable and make provisions for their storage to balance out supply shortages, thereby managing the prices of essential commodities, he added.
Mr. Balakrishnan, while lauding the Tamil Nadu government’s basic income scheme for women, called for doing away with the targeted component of the scheme, so that it could cover all women.
