NCP salutes Stalin for strong stand against Governor

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday lauded and 'saluted' Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for his principled stance vis-a-vis his state's Governor RN Ravi after what happened in the TN legislature on Monday.

The Governor, in his customary address in the Assembly, had omitted mention of the Dravidian model of governance and names of revered leaders like E.V. Ramasamy, known popularly as Thanthai Periyar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, or former stalwarts and CMs of that state like K. Kamaraj, C.N. Annadurai, though he later named K. Karunanidhi.

The Governor had deviated from the speech cleared by the ruling alliance, which led to a ruckus in the Assembly, and he later walked out of the House before Stalin could complete reading out the resolution demanding to include only the government-approved and printed speech.

Stalin's act earned him the admiration and applause of senior NCP leaders in Maharashtra for his stand on the developments in Tamil Nadu.

State NCP President Jayant R. Patil said that India is a federal system of democracy where the states enjoy the same status as the Centre.

"However, attempts are being made to crush the Constitutional rights of the state by the Governors appointed by the Centre all over India. We fully support the strong stand taken by CM Stalin," said Patil.

Senior NCP leader Jitendra Awhad congratulated Stalin for his "firm stand of raising objection to the Governor's omissions on the spot, and for upholding the highest Indian traditions of not insulting the country's great personalities and icons".