Tamil Nadu Governor Sues Suspended DMK Leader After "Go To Kashmir" Remark

Chennai/New Delhi:

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has filed a defamation case against a now suspended worker of ruling DMK party for his controversial remarks, officials have said.

The case, sources say, was filed against Sivaji Krishnamurthy by Governor RN Ravi in a Chennai court yesterday.

Sivaji Krishnamurthy had made the alleged derogatory remarks against the Governor after he skipped portions of a government approved speech in the state assembly earlier this month.

Using expletives for Governor Ravi, Mr Krishnamurthy had said if he can't take Ambedkar's name, he should go to Kashmir, so he would be gunned down by extremists.

"Didn't you take an oath in the name of the constitution? Wasn't it Ambedkar, my grandfather, who wrote it? If you won't say his name, you go to Kashmir. We ourselves will send an extremist. Let him gun him down," Shivaji Krishnamoorthy had said, addressing a party gathering

Distancing itself from the controversy, the DMK suspended him last week for "violating party discipline and bringing disrepute to the party."

The Governor and the state government have been at loggerheads, with the ruling party accusing Mr Ravi of acting at the behest of the BJP. The hostility soared when the Governor on January 9 went off-script while reading out an official speech approved by the government in the assembly.

The Governor had skipped parts of the address which had references to secularism, and mentioned leaders like Periyar, BR Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, and Karunanidhi.

He also reportedly did not read the reference to the 'Dravidian model' that the ruling DMK promotes and showcases.

RN Ravi walked off in a huff, without even waiting for the national anthem, after legislators of the ruling DMK and its allies raised slogans against him.

Chief Minister MK Stalin had said the Governor's action was "against Assembly traditions" and urged President Draupadi Murmu to intervene and ensure Mr Ravi abides by the Constitution. DMK allies like the Congress have also demanded the Governor's recall.