A day after a man hurled a petrol bomb outside the Governor's house of Tamil Nadu, a fresh war of words erupted between the Governor and the Government of the state. The Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan said on Thursday (October 26) that police did not register its complaint about the petrol bomb incident, and that a fair investigation was 'killed' before it began. Furthermore, the police allegedly diluted the attack as simple vandalism and did not conduct detailed interrogations.
"Police did not register Raj Bhavan complaint on the attack. Suo motu diluted the attack as act of simple vandalism and in a hurry got arrested the accused and remanded (him) to jail at midnight waking up the magistrate and prevented detailed interrogation which could expose those behind attack," the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.
"A fair investigation has been killed before it even begins," TN Raj Bhavan said on X.
DMK's Kanimozhi Says 'CM Has Asked To Take Action':
Reacting to the incident, DMK's Kanimozhi said: "It is condemnable. No one accepts that act. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has asked to take action. The person who hurled the petrol bomb also has been arrested and more investigation will be done on this. The accused would be punished," ANI quoted her as saying.
Earlier, State Law Minister S Regupathy stated that the DMK government would not allow any untoward incident to occur in the state because it would bring the state into disrepute. He also accused the Governor of "inciting" hatred against the state government and people, The Hindu reported.
Interacting with journalists, Regupathy stated that it was incorrect to claim that the Raj Bhavan lacked security. The State government had provided full-scale security to the Raj Bhavan, and the incident on Wednesday occurred outside the Raj Bhavan. Regupathy stated that the DMK government would not make any mistakes in maintaining and protecting law and order. Chief Minister M K Stalin is a leader who will defend even his enemies, he added, as reported by The Hindu.
'Dignity Of Guv Must Be Protected': Telangana Governor
Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan lashed out at the Tamil Nadu government in response to the incident and confirmation from the Raj Bhavan that police denied registering a FIR in the case.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), she said: "The verbal and physical violence against the Governor of Tamil Nadu has been encouraged by the supporters of the ruling party in recent times and it is strongly condemned. This is not conducive to democracy. Opinion should be met with opinion and not with riots. Tamil Nadu government should control this immediately."
"Further... The dignity of the Governor and the dignity of the Governor's House must be protected….not attacked….The government should confirm that," her post read further.
The incident occurred as Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi returned, for the second time, a state government file recommending the appointment of former Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu as Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.
When the recommendation was sent for the first time, shortly after Babu's retirement at the end of June, Ravi questioned the criteria for his selection, as well as those of other candidates for the position, and asked whether Supreme Court guidelines were followed.
The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government denied that any guidelines were broken, pointing out that the Governor has no say in such matters and must follow the recommendations of the elected government.
Tensions between the MK Stalin government and Ravi have been high since January, when the governor skipped portions of his customary address to the state Assembly. There have been other flashpoints since then as well, including when the governor allegedly suggested changing the name of the state to 'Tamilagam'.
Ravi, according to the DMK government, acts as an agent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) and the BJP.
A few days ago, the governor launched a veiled attack on the state government, claiming that "many national freedom fighters and martyrs from Tamil Nadu have been reduced to caste leaders in the pursuit of a political conspiracy to promote a British Dravidian narrative." This elicited a strong reaction from the DMK.