"RN Ravi failed to act ": DMK hits out at Tamil Nadu Governor

CHENNAI: 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. The DMK attack on the Tamil Nadu Governor comes after Governor RN Ravi on Sunday said that social discrimination is still a major problem in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing a cultural event conducted by Tamil Seva Sangam, in Thanjavur," Ravi said, "Unfortunately, in Tamil Nadu, social discrimination is still a major problem. In our state, our youth wear caste bands (wristbands of various colours to identify their castes). How shameful it is that a state (government) which talks about social justice and makes so much politics about social justice, has been exploiting people in the name of caste." Congress MP Karthi Chidambaram also hit out at the Tamil Nadu Governor calling for his immediate recall.

"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" said Karthi Chidambaram.

The state unit of the BJP sprang to the defence of the Governors 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% true."