Tamil Nadu governor’s actions don’t violate Constitution, his principal secretary says
B Sivakumar | TNN | Nov 20, 2017, 20:32 IST
Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit
CHENNAI: Days after he drew criticisms for holding review meetings
with officials in Coimbatore and sweeping a road in Tirupur, the office
of
Tamil Nadu governor
Banwarilal Purohit strongly denied that he had any political agenda.
In a Raj Bhavan release, the governor's principal secretary Ramesh Chand Meena said the
governor
meeting officials did not in any way violate the Constitution and he
would continue to do so for the well-being of Tamil Nadu people.
Soon after the governor met officials on his tour of the western
districts, opposition parties DMK, Congress, PMK and the Left kicked up a
storm, saying his actions set a wrong precedent and that it went
against state autonomy. They accused him of acting as an agent of the
Centre to rule the state by default.
"[A] few critics felt that the governor had a political agenda and
that he was acting at the behest of the Centre, given the current
political context in which Tamil Nadu is finding itself now. This part
of the criticism is absolutely wrong and based on the figment of
imagination," said the secretary.
The purpose of the meeting with officials was to seek first-hand
inputs about various welfare and developmental schemes and programmes
and their implementation, he said. "Certain sections of the society
found this effort as something that has to be welcomed, while others
found the action as not in conformity with constitutional provisions and
conventions," he said.
The statement said the governor was sure about the legality and
correctness of his action. The governor sought legal opinion from one of
the leading experts to have a proper examination of his action, the
secretary said. "Equipped with that detailed opinion, Thiru Purohit
asserts that none of his actions in seeking a meeting with the district
officials in Coimbatore amounts to any illegality or
unconstitutionality," said the secretary.
He said there was no attempt to short-circuit the official channels or
force a meeting. "Everything was done according to the norms and the
meeting gave the governor a good idea of the statutes of various welfare
and developmental schemes and programmes in Coimbatore district," he
said.
The secretary said even when Purohit was Assam governor, he had
conducted several meetings in the state and won everybody's
appreciation. "While conducting such meetings, the governor violated any
law or the Constitution. These meetings helped him in getting
first-hand knowledge of the developmental needs and problems faced by
people at the grassroots level. This helped him reflect the same to the
Centre and thereby enabling him to avail more funds to fulfill the needs
of the people," said the secretary.
The governor is said to continue similar such efforts in Tamil Nadu to
fulfil his responsibilities as envisaged in the oath taken to devote
himself in the service and well-being of the people of Tamil Nadu, he
added.
"At no place does the Constitution stop the governor from seeking any
such meetings. The purpose in seeking such meetings is not to subvert
the authority of the state government, but to support their efforts in
good governance," he said, adding that the governor "prays to the
Almighty that Tamil Nadu reached pinnacle of the glory in the times to
come".