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Lakshmi Subramanian
Lakshmi Subramanian

TAMIL NADU

Overseeing a politically tumultuous state: Purohit's first agenda as TN guv

banwarilal-purohit-tn-file-pti [File photo] Banwarilal Purohit is expected to play a larger role than as an observer as the governor of Tamil Nadu | PTI

Tamil Nadu, which has been witness to a political turmoil since the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa in September 2016, has finally got a full-time governor. Banwarilal Purohit will take charge as the new governor soon. The 77-year-old, a veteran in Maharashtra politics, will now oversee Tamil Nadu as its full-time governor.

A two-time Congress MP, who was also part of Indira Gandhi's cabinet, Purohit has a long political history. He was also a one-time BJP MP from Nagpur and was appointed as the governor of Assam in 2016. Purohit's appointment as Tamil Nadu governor by President Ram Nath Kovind comes at a crucial time when frictions within the ruling AIADMK has reached a fever pitch. While the government led by Edappadi K. Palaniswamy is trying to save its head, the T.T.V. Dhinakaran faction and the opposition DMK have been demanding a floor test asking the chief minister to prove the majority in the assembly.

The TTV faction, comprising 18 MLAs, have already petitioned the governor-in-charge Vidyasagar Rao expressing their lack of confidence in Chief Minister Palaniswamy. The MLAs, who raised the voice of rebellion, have been subsequently disqualified by Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal. Writ petitions challenging the disqualification and also petitions filed by the DMK and the TTV faction seeking a floor test are pending in the Madras High Court. The petitions will be heard again on October 3, once the court reopens after the Dussehra holidays.

Given the current political situation, the governor will have a more active role to play than as an observer. Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao took over as the governor-in-charge of Tamil Nadu in August 2016 when Jayalalithaa was around. Tamil Nadu's political turmoil began in September 2016, after Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital. Rao had to shuttle between Mumbai and Chennai, every time he was needed here. In fact, Rao has been the longest-serving in-charge governor of the state for more than a year. The last time the state saw an in-charge governor was in 2001, when the Centre decided to recall Tamil Nadu's then governor Fathima Beevi.

Tamil Nadu has seen various political happenings, protests and also a cyclone in the past one year. Every time a political situation emerged, Rao would fly down from Mumbai to Chennai and would be available for a week or 10 days. When the government under O. Panneerselvam then handled the Vardah cyclone or the Jallikattu protests that took the state by storm, Rao had to fly down to know what was happening in the state. In January 2017, it was the then chief minister Panneerselvam who hoisted the flag on Republic Day―an apparent break from the existing tradition.

Again, in February, Rao flew from Chennai to Mumbai after accepting Panneerselvam's resignation. A few days later, when Sasikala was elected the legislative party leader of the ruling AIADMK, Rao was not available. He has sworn in two chief ministers for the state in just one year and has seen one cabinet expansion. Rao, despite the huge criticisms from the opposition and the TTV faction, was accommodating for both OPS and EPS whenever they wanted him to be in Chennai, for resignation or for swearing in.

But now the expanding cracks in the AIADMK and the fissures in the government will actually need the attention of an active governor who will play a greater role in handling various crises. "The appointment of a full-time governor is a welcome move and need of the hour. But this appointment is expected to increase BJP's influence in Tamil Nadu. Surely, a governor like the previous one or like in other states will not stay away from the day to day happenings in the state. He might interfere in the affairs of the state government every now and then, right from appointment of vice-chancellors in the universities to various other issues like addressing the flaws in the government," says Raveenthran Thuraisamy, political analyst. 

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