Chennai: R.N. Ravi’s tumultuous four-and-a-half-year tenure as Tamil Nadu governor ended on Thursday, with ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders taking digs at his move and calling him a “star campaigner” for the DMK ahead of Tamil Nadu assembly polls.
Ravi’s tenure was marked by repeated clashes with the DMK government over bills, speeches, appointments and Supreme Court rebukes.
Taking a dig at Ravi’s shift from Tamil Nadu to West Bengal following the sudden resignation of Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, DMK MP P. Wilson said on X that the DMK was losing a “star campaigner” in the upcoming elections as R.N. Ravi was a “constant reminder of the BJP’s intentions” with Tamil Nadu.
I am sad on two counts – firstly that DMK is losing a star campaigner in the upcoming elections. Thiru R.N. Ravi was a constant reminder of BJP’s intentions with Tamil Nadu.
Secondly, I am sad for the people of West Bengal and my good friends at the @AITCofficial !
Wherever… https://t.co/SvEGCv2NMr
— P. Wilson -தமிழ்நாட்டை தலைகுனிய விட மாட்டேன் (@PWilsonDMK) March 5, 2026
He also said that he was sad for the people of West Bengal and his friends at the All India Trinamool Congress. “Wherever he goes, the casualty is the Constitution, federal structure and parliamentary democracy,” Wilson said.
Congress MP Jothimani echoed similar sentiments, sarcastically saying on X that Ravi has been a “star campaigner” for the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu.
“It is deeply regrettable that the Honorable Governor Mr. R. N. Ravi has been transferred during the election period. He has been a star campaigner for the INDIA alliance in Tamil Nadu! He has continuously insulted Tamil Nadu and the achievements of the Tamil people,” she wrote in her post.
“He is the one who tried to drape Thiruvalluvar in saffron. He will go down in history as the one who used the Raj Bhavan as the BJP’s unofficial Tamil Nadu headquarters. The BJP has belatedly realised that the people of Tamil Nadu will never serve the BJP,” she added.
தேர்தல் காலத்தில் மாண்புமிகு ஆளுநர் திரு. ஆர். என். ரவி அவர்கள் இடமாற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது மிகுந்த வருத்தமளிக்கிறது. தமிழ்நாட்டில் இந்தியா கூட்டணிக்கு அவர் ஒரு நட்சத்திரப் பேசசாளர்! தமிழ்நாட்டையும்,தமிழ்மக்களின் சாதனைகளையும் தொடர்ந்து அவமதித்து வந்தவர். திருவள்ளுவருக்கு காவி… pic.twitter.com/XSLJsstC5f
— Jothimani (@jothims) March 6, 2026
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Ravi’s appointment as the state’s governor was made without consulting her.
Jothimani responded, saying, “R. N. Ravi is the greatest treasure that has come to the opposition parties. Make use of him.”
Tense relations
Relations between Ravi and the state government had been tense since he assumed office as Tamil Nadu governor on 18 September 2021.
Most recently, he walked out of the Assembly last month because the national anthem was not played and the state song, Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, was given importance.
Last year, too, he walked out of the state assembly without delivering his customary address for the first session of the year over the alleged insult of the Indian national anthem and the Constitution.
“Respecting the National Anthem is among the first Fundamental Duty as enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all the state legislatures at the beginning and the end of the governor’s address. Today on the arrival of the Governor to the House, only Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was sung,” Raj Bhavan said in a statement last year.
The Constitution of Bharat and the National Anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. Respecting the National Anthem is among the first Fundamental Duty as enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all the state legislatures at the beginning and the end…
— LOK BHAVAN, TAMIL NADU (@lokbhavan_tn) January 6, 2025
The tussle with the DMK government began in February 2022 when he returned an Assembly bill seeking exemption from the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) after holding it for 142 days. The bill was passed by the Assembly in September 2021.
Instead of granting assent or reserving it for the President, he returned it to the Assembly for reconsideration, saying that unassented bills become “dead” if not acted upon promptly.
He criticised the bill as being against the interests of students, particularly rural and economically poor ones. He dismissed the A.K. Rajan Committee’s report, on which the bill was based, as “utterly unconvincing” and based on flawed assumptions that NEET harms merit and social justice.
The Tamil Nadu government opposed this, viewing it as an overreach by the governor. This sparked the first major row between Raj Bhavan and the DMK government, leading the Assembly to re-adopt the bill unanimously.
Tensions between the government and the governor escalated as Ravi held back assent to bills passed by the state Legislative Assembly, primarily related to university governance reforms.
These bills sought to shift the power to appoint vice-chancellors of state universities from the governor to the state government, include government nominees in selection panels, allow government inspections instead of those by the chancellor, add the finance secretary to university syndicates, and establish a government Ayurveda University.
Ravi’s prolonged inaction led to administrative challenges in a few universities, and the DMK alleged it was a case of deliberate inaction, omission and delay.
The issue of delay in assenting to the bills was taken up in both houses of Parliament by DMK MPs. The Tamil Nadu government went to the Supreme Court, alleging “deliberate inaction, omission, delay, and failure by the Governor.
In 2025, the top court declared Ravi’s withholding of 10 bills illegal and invoked Article 142 to deem them assented, and criticised indefinite delays as an unconstitutional “pocket veto”.
The Supreme Court stated that the governor is bound to assent to the bills and cannot reserve them for the President, setting timelines for gubernatorial action on bills.
Relations deteriorated in January 2023 when Ravi referred to the name of the state as Tamilakam, saying it was more appropriate. The remark was met with condemnation from political parties, who staged protests against the governor.
Earlier, the governor dismissed DMK Minister for Electricity Senthil Balaji after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in June 2023, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
Ravi also faced backlash for refusing the re-induction of DMK minister K. Ponmudy as higher education minister, despite the Supreme Court staying his conviction and three-year sentence in a disproportionate assets case in March 2024. Later, the Supreme Court also criticised Ravi for defying its order.
Ravi’s customary address to the Assembly at the start of sessions has often been a source of controversy.
In January 2023, Ravi skipped a government-prepared text that included references to the Dravidian model of governance and secularism. He walked out after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin moved a resolution to record only the original speech. In February 2024, Ravi refused to read the full address.
Even on occasions like Ambedkar Jayanti and Independence Day, Ravi delivered critiques of the DMK-led government, raising the issues of rising crimes against Scheduled Castes, increasing atrocities against Dalit women, low conviction rates, persistent caste discrimination, poor educational outcomes, and incidents of assault and murder.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)