Chennai, Jan 27: The ‘At Home’ Republic Day reception hosted by Governor RN Ravi witnessed a noticeable absence of allies from the ruling DMK, who opted to boycott the event. Despite the boycott, five ministers from the Stalin government, along with Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena and DGP Shankar Jiwal, attended the cultural ceremony.
State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Law Minister S Regupathy, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian, MSME Minister TM Anbarasan, and HR and CE Minister PK Sekarbabu represented the DMK government at the reception alongside Governor Ravi.
Union Minister of State L Murugan, BJP National Mahila Morcha president Vanathi Srinivasan, BJP State vice-president Karu Nagarajan, former minister D Jayakumar, former MP N Balaganga of AIADMK, PMK MLA GK Mani, Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, and various IAS and IPS officers were also present at the event.
However, DMK allies Congress, VCK, MDMK, and the Left parties chose to boycott the reception, citing the Governor’s alleged involvement in politics and acting as a mouthpiece for RSS and BJP.
The decision to attend or boycott comes in the wake of controversy sparked by Governor Ravi’s statement on January 23, where he asserted that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose played a more significant role than Mahatma Gandhi in India’s freedom from British rule.
Former chief ministers O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami were unable to attend the event due to their absence in town.