TN CM M K Stalin accuses Raj Bhavan of spreading lie on petrol bomb case

Madurai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday accused the Raj Bhavan of 'spreading lie' on the petrol bomb case.

The Molotov cocktail was not hurled inside the Raj Bhavan but on the 'road,' outside the premises that houses Governor R N Ravi's residence, he said.

It is shameful that Governor Ravi has become a representative of the BJP and the Raj Bhavan has turned into an office of the saffron party, he alleged.

After paying respects at the memorial of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar at Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district near here, Stalin, answering a question, told reporters that police officials had days ago released CCTV footages to prove that the petrol bomb fell on the road.

October 30 is Thevar Jayanthi, the guru pooja of Muthuramalinga Thevar.

The Chief Minister alleged: "This lie (claiming that the Raj Bhavan was attacked using a petrol bomb) is being spread in a planned manner from the Raj Bhavan."

Aiming at the Raj Bhavan's main gate in Chennai, a 42-year old man had on October 25 hurled 'petrol bombs' which, according to police, did not explode and landed outside the main gate, near a barrier.

To a question on naming the airport here after Thevar, the CM said the matter has already been taken up with the Centre. On the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, he said it is 'continuous.' Against the background of arrest of 37 fishermen by the island nation, he said he has immediately written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Stalin said he has sent party MP T R Baalu, alongwith representatives of fishermen from Ramanathapuram, to Delhi to visit Jaishankar.

Asked on the 'row' over Aryan-Dravidian ideologies, the Chief Minister said 'Aryan' ideology segregated people and delineated their roles. However, everything for everyone is the Dravidian ideology. "I urge our Governor to understand this difference, this truth."

Days ago, Governor Ravi had yet again denounced the Aryan-Dravidian racial theory. Stalin had said some persons holding high offices were asking 'what is Dravidam?.' The Tamil term 'Dravidam,' when used by the DMK leaders denote the Dravidian political ideology, the party's social justice-led Dravidian model of governance.

In Tamil Nadu, the term 'Aryan,' is equated by several supporters of the Dravidian movement with the BJP's Hindutva ideology.