Opposition party leaders on Tuesday disapproved of actor Rajinikanth having “political discussions” with the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi at Raj Bhavan.
Tamil Nadu CPI (M) secretary K. Balakrishnan charged that the Raj Bhavan had become the office of a political party, a day after Mr. Rajinikanth met Mr. Ravi. The actor said he had discussed political matters with the Governor. In a series of tweets, Mr. Balakrishnan said while it was acceptable for Mr. Rajinikanth to meet the Governor on a ‘courtesy call’, the fact that the actor said, later at a press meet, he could not disclose what was discussed [politically] was surprising.
“The Governor’s residence is not a political party office to discuss politics. The Governor should not function as the representative of a particular political party. When that is the case, what was the necessity for the Governor to discuss ‘such an unshareable political discussion’ with the media,” he asked. He charged that through this, it was confirmed that the Governor’s office had been turned into a political party’s office in contravention of the Indian Constitution. “The Governor’s office had come under severe condemnation for running a parallel government against the duly elected government in Tamil Nadu. Now, as the next step it has become a political party’s office,” he said.
Mr. Balakrishnan asked for how much longer the people of Tamil Nadu would bear the Governor’s actions that have been repeatedly against the welfare of the citizens of the State. Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani also condemned the Governor, stating that Mr. Rajinikanth’s statement only proved the charge against him that he was acting against the State’s interests.
