Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday urged non-BJP ruled States to pass resolutions in their respective Assemblies urging the Centre to fix a time limit for Governors to approve bills passed by the legislatures.
Writing to his counterparts, Stalin said some “Governors today are indefinitely holding various bills” that have been duly passed by the State legislatures and sent for approval. It brought the respective State administrations to a standstill in such areas related to the bills, he said.
Considering various aspects of the issue, the Tamil Nadu government took several efforts to clarify the doubts and concerns raised by Governor R N Ravi on the bills sent for his approval. It includes a bill to ban Online Rummy — Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill — which has received the Governor’s assent and was notified on April 10, the Chief Minister said in his letter dated April 11.
“As our efforts failed and as we came to know that many other States have similar issues, we in Tamil Nadu deemed it fit to pass a resolution in our State Assembly urging the Union government and the President of India to fix a time limit for the Governors to approve the Bills passed by the respective Legislatures,” Stalin said.
Enclosing a copy of the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly on April 10, 2023 he said: “I am sure that you will agree with the spirit and content of the resolution, and extend your support in this regard to uphold the sovereignty and self-respect of the State governments and the Legislatures by passing a similar resolution in your State Assembly.”
The Constitution has clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of the Union and State governments along with that of the Governor. However, it has been observed that such time-tested principles are neither respected nor followed now, affecting the functioning of the State governments, he said.
“As you are aware, Indian democracy today stands at a crossroads and increasingly we are witnessing the fading away of the spirit of cooperative federalism from the governance of the nation.”
What happened in Tamil Nadu
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along with the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M), Tamilaga Valvurimai Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Kongu Nadu Makkal Katchi and Dravidar Kazhagam protested in Chennai against Governor RN Ravi for acting against interests of the democratically elected state government.
In this protest, DMK general secretary and Thoothukudi MP K Kanimozhi, South Chennai MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian, Congress MP Tirunavukkarasar, VCK MP Thirumavalavan, MDMK chief Vaiko, CPI(M) state secretary K Balakrishnan, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan, MMK president MH Jawahirullah and Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani criticised the functioning of Governor Ravi and spoke about the controversial comments made by the Governor and the delays caused by not giving consent to the Bills passed in the Assembly.
Stalin while moving the resolution lashed out against the Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi and said that he was making it a habit to speak against the state government whenever the Prime Minister was in the state or when he (Stalin) was in New Delhi.
Governor vs government in Telangana
Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for creating a constitutional impasse by refusing to act on several Bills passed by the state legislature.
The Bills pending the Governor’s assent for months include the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022, Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Telangana Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Ministers of the state condemning her delay in passing the bill filed a petition in the state high court, then approached the President and reached the Supreme Court seeking clarification of the matter.
However, she gave consent to three bills, returned two to the state government and sent two others to the Centre for Presidential Assent on April 11.
Reacting to Tamilisai’s decision on the pending bills, senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and state finance minister T Harish Rao said it was unfortunate that she had given consent to only three of the 10 pending bills, that too, only after the intervention of the Supreme Court.
(The story has been edited with inputs from News Desk)
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