The Raj Bhavan reset: Why Governor R.N. Ravi’s exit from Tamil Nadu may not favour the DMK

On March 5, hours before a press communique was sent out from the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came up with a hard-hitting social media post on X, saying that Governor Ananda Bose had resigned and that R.N. Ravi from Tamil Nadu would be replacing him.

She alleged that she was not consulted regarding the transfer. However, after a formal announcement came from the Centre a day later, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin walked with a bouquet and a smile on his face to the Lok Bhavan at Guindy in Chennai.

He greeted Ravi on his new assignment as the latter was preparing to leave Chennai for Kolkata. Stalin presented Ravi with a miniature statue of the Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar and greeted him.

Though Stalin and Ravi have always been at loggerheads administratively, the former's memento was regarded as an inclusive gesture, despite the ruling DMK and Stalin often calling out the governor for acting against the interests of the state.

Ravi’s penchant for Sanatana Dharma and his remarks on ‘Dravidam’—the core ideological plank of the ruling DMK—and that Tamil literature like Thirukkural was wrongly translated into English, often brought Ravi into confrontations with the state government.

Ravi walking out of the Assembly in a huff, removing a portion from the Tamil anthem, removing minister V. Senthil Balaji from the State Cabinet for his conduct—all brought him into conflict with the ruling DMK. In fact, this indirectly even helped the DMK pitch Ravi as “an agent of the RSS and the Sanatan forces” and strengthen the anti-BJP narrative in the state.

Notably, Ravi almost set a record by walking out of the assembly four times in a row, which came as a blessing in disguise for the ruling DMK to reinforce its ideological stance that the governor’s post was unnecessary in a democratic country like India. DMK even took up its old rhetoric: the famous political analogy that was coined by C.N. Annadurai, who once said that the ‘governor's post is as useless to a state as a beard is to a goat’.

The DMK has even gone to the Supreme Court against Governor Ravi, in addition to seeking a constitutional amendment for the abolition of his gubernatorial post.

Now, with the transfer of Ravi and the appointment of Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the additional in-charge for Tamil Nadu, the DMK is all set to lose in the narrative it had built in the past five years with Ravi’s acts against the government.

By choosing Arlekar—who is, like Ravi, a staunch RSS follower—the Modi government has chosen to reset its approach in Tamil Nadu. Like in Kerala, Arlekar may not get into confrontations with the government. Unlike Ravi, he is also expected to make a measured move in every approach—be it institutional or political—which will directly or indirectly favour the Centre.

This approach will only lower the tensions between the ruling party and Raj Bhavan, which the DMK cannot use as a poll plank against the BJP. The tensions between the government and the Raj Bhavan—which had reached flashpoints several times—are also unlikely.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson’s tweet makes it clear:

"I am sad on two counts: firstly that DMK is losing a star campaigner in the upcoming elections. R.N. Ravi was a constant reminder of the BJP’s intentions in Tamil Nadu. Secondly, I am sad for the people of West Bengal and my good friends at the All India Trinamool Congress. Wherever he (R.N. Ravi) goes, the casualty is the Constitution, federal structure and parliamentary democracy.”

However, in the history of Tamil Nadu, there has never been an election without a full-fledged governor. Being an important state with a developed economy in 2016, during the death of the then-CM J. Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu had an in-charge governor, C. Vidyasagar Rao.

Rao served as the Acting Governor from September 2, 2016 to October 5, 2017—a crucial period that saw histories written and rewritten.

Jayalalithaa, who had been admitted to the hospital for treatment, died after 75 days, while her prodigy O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as the standby CM.

However, when there was a coup in the AIADMK to remove Panneerselvam and anoint Jayalalithaa’s close aide V.K. Sasikala as the CM, Rao delayed inviting Sasikala to form the government in February 2017.

The DMK which was in the Opposition then criticised them by saying that the governor was “missing in action” or inaccessible at a time when the state was undergoing political turmoil.

Incidentally, this time too, appointing a governor in-charge may be looked at as an advantage for the BJP to soften the anti-BJP narrative built by the DMK and its poll plant.

Looking at the larger picture, political observers feel that the AIADMK-BJP combine in Tamil Nadu is looking for political turmoil like in 2016, with the DMK-led alliance falling below the 118-seat majority in the assembly.

“If there is a hung assembly, a delay by the governor in inviting the majority party to form the government is always advantageous to BJP."

The latest reshuffle of governors, however, cannot be looked at only from Tamil Nadu’s perspective, but in terms of how all the Raj Bhavan appointments turned crucial in India’s federal political space.

Opposition-ruled states have always called out the BJP against the intentions behind gubernatorial appointments and how federalism is at risk, at a time when Centre-state conflicts have intensified.

However, with the transfers, the Centre seems to be preparing for the next course of political battle in election-bound states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal.