Governor RN Ravi on Anti-Sterlite Protest

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi said on April 6 that withholding a bill does not mean that the governor is holding it, but rather that the bill is dead. “It is a decent language used instead of the word ‘reject’. When you say ‘withhold’, the bill is dead,” Ravi said while addressing a gathering of civil service aspirants at Raj Bhavan. In his speech, the governor also said that the anti-pollution protests against Sterlite Copper in Tuticorin were foreign-funded. Chief Minister M K Stalin issued a strong statement condemning the governor’s remarks about holding bills as a “dereliction of duty” even as his remarks about anti-Sterlite protestors drew strong criticism from other leaders.