TN Guv crosses boundaries of a constitutional functionary: Karthi Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Karthi Chidambaram on Monday hit out at Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and said that he always has the sort of comments that are "unbecoming" of the office he holds and always crosses the boundaries of a constitutional functionary.

"The Governor of Tamil Nadu has always sort of comments which are unbecoming of the office he holds. He was a troublemaker in his previous assignment in Nagaland, and he continues to be a troublemaker in Tamil Nadu. I would urge the President to withdraw the pleasure of this Governor and recall him immediately. He always crosses the boundaries of constitutional functionary," Chidambaram told ANI.

Speaking to ANI on the new Parliament building, the Congress MP said, "I think everybody is, nostalgic about this building. I hope in the new building, the foundations of democracy will be further strengthened where the voice of the Opposition voices will also be heard."

Earlier in the day, reacting to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi's statement on social discrimination, DMK leader TKS Elangovan said that he has failed to act as a Governor.

"In the North, an upper-caste man can urinate on a lower-caste boy and nobody can question. That is the kind of social justice from Mr Ravi's area. How he is acting towards the lower caste people I don't know...I am calling him Mr Ravi because he has failed to act as a Governor," Elangovan said.

"What is the duty of the Governor? To give ascent to the bills passed by the legislature but he has not done that duty and is serving as the stooge of the RSS group," he added.

This comes after Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi who participated in a cultural event conducted by Tamil Seva Sangam on Sunday in Thanjavur spoke in detail about social discrimination based on a person's caste that is still prevalent in various parts of the State.

The State unit of the BJP sprang to the defence of the Governor, accusing the state government run by the DMK of shying away from its responsibilities. Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy said, "They don't want to find the truth because it will create a problem of caste. We saw that that a 12th standard boy was attacked by some other caste... Every day we are seeing so many issues. We have seen Tamil Nadu also has a high number of deaths in manual scavenging. Manual scavenging is because of the caste discrimination we have seen...What Governor RN Ravi has said is 100 per cent true."