With the view of curbing the excess time taken by the Governors of non-BJP ruling states in clearing crucial bills, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has shaped an initiative to lead the fight and to unite the non-BJP CMs against such conducts of the Governors. His move has come after Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi cleared the Bill to ban the online gambling in the state after a prolonged pressure from the state government and the opposition. 

Giving his initiative a strong push, MK Stalin has urged the states to pass resolutions at their assemblies to fix time limit for Governors to clear Bills. The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution against the Governor's delay recently and Stalin has now asked the non-BJP ruling states to echo the same to widen the fight. He has asked these states to pass resolutions urging the Union government and the President to fix a time limit for Governors to approve the Bills passed by the Legislatures. 

In his letter dated April 11, MK Stalin said Indian democracy was at a crossroads and that the spirit of cooperative federalism has been getting dimmed from the governance of the nation. He said, "The Constitution has clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of the Union and State governments along with the role of the Governor. However, it is observed that such time-tested principles are neither respected nor followed now, affecting the functioning of the state governments." 

Stalin further said, "Some Governors today are indefinitely holding various Bills that have been duly passed by the State Legislatures and sent for approval which brings the respective State administrations to a standstill in such areas." He also cited that the efforts were taken to clarify the doubts and concerns raised by the Governor on the Bills sent for approval, including the 'Bill to ban Online Rummy', but they had failed. 

"We came to know that many other States have similar issues, we in Tamil Nadu deemed it fit to pass a resolution in our State Assembly urging the Union government and the President to fix a time limit for the Governors to approve the Bills passed by the respective Legislatures. I am enclosing an extract of the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly yesterday (April 10) for your kind perusal", Stalin added. 

He further said, "I am sure that you will agree with the spirit and content of the resolution, and extend your support in this regard to uphold the sovereignty and self-respect of the State governments and the Legislatures by passing a similar resolution in your State Assembly." 

Sharing his letter on Twitter, MK Stalin wrote, "As the Indian Democracy stands at crossroads, I've written to the CMs of non-BJP ruling states to extend their support to the resolution passed by TNLA urging the President & Union Govt to fix a time limit for Governors to approve the bills passed by the respective legislatures." He has sent this letter to a league of opposition Chief Ministers including Pinarayi Vijayan, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Naveen Patnaik, Nitish Kumar, Ashok Gehlot, Jagan Mohan Reddy, K Chandrasekhar Rao, and Bhagwant Mann.

MK Stalin's move to unite the non-BJP Chief Ministers is expected to put more pressure on BJP and would spark a nationwide voice against the Governor's conduct with the non-BJP Chief Ministers. Stalin's letter has come a day ahead a protest organized by DMK and its allies in Chennai against Governor RN Ravi for acting against the interests of the democratically elected State government. 

@ArvindKejriwal @pinarayivijayan @MamataOfficial @ysjagan @HemantSorenJMM @Naveen_Odisha @TelanganaCMO @ashokgehlot51 @NitishKumar @bhupeshbaghel @SukhuSukhvinder @BhagwantMann

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 12, 2023