After SC petition, Governor Tamilisai targets Telangana CS saying Raj Bhavan is nearer than Delhi

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, in a tweet accused the Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari of not visiting Raj Bhavan officially after assuming office and said Raj Bhavan was closer than Delhi.

Hyderabad: With the State government approaching the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Governor for her assent to 10 pending bills, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday made a veiled attack on the State government by targeting Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari for filing the petition.

In a tweet, she accused the Chief Secretary of not visiting Raj Bhavan officially after assuming office and said Raj Bhavan was closer than Delhi.

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While the Chief Secretary filed the writ petition in the Supreme Court on behalf of the State government in an official capacity, the Governor targeted the former personally and accused her of not visiting the “Raj Bhavan” officially after assuming the office.

Once again, she accused the officials of not following protocol and took a dig at the Chief Secretary for not having time to make a courtesy call. This however saw many pointing out that Santhi Kumari had assumed office only in January, while the bills were pending with the Governor for over six months.

“Dear @TelanganaCS, Rajbhavan is nearer than Delhi. Assuming office as CS you didn’t find time to visit Raj Bhavan officially. No protocol! No courtesy even for courtesy call. Friendly official visits & interactions would have been more helpful which you Don’t even intend. (sic)” she tweeted.

Dear @TelanganaCS Rajbhavan is nearer than Delhi. Assuming office as CS you didn't find time to visit Rahbhavan officially. No protocol!No courtesy even for courtesy call. Friendly official visits & interactions would have been more helpfull which you Don't even intend.

— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisaiGuv) March 3, 2023

The Apex Court is likely to hear the writ petition filed by the State government over the pending bills on Friday. Of the 10 bills, seven of them are pending with the Governor for the last six months. Even after the State government offered to clarify her doubts or reservations on giving assent to the bills, there has been no response from the Governor leading to a stalemate.

Meanwhile, with photographs of the Governor with Santhi Kumari being tweeted and her claim that the CS had not met her proved false, netizens responded to her tweet asking her why she was politicising the issue when she could have just cleared the bills.

Dear governer
Your signature is shorter than this tweet please sign and pass the bills rather than tweeting… https://t.co/hY5GTaxCP6

— Kickuu (@cartick94) March 3, 2023

Others also asked why she did not seek clarifications, which was one reason she had cited in the past for withholding the bills.

Hello nominated governor, if you have any concerns with the bill, you can write to the departments expressing your concerns. Did you?

— Vinay (@kingaaar000) March 3, 2023

The Governor’s inexplicable statement on the CS not calling on her, when her response to the SC petition should have been why the bills were upheld, also led to people cracking jokes on her statement. Some said the protocol should be maintained and Raj Bhavan should be visited with two kg of pineapple cake.

https://twitter.com/just_preetham_/status/1631538093101842435?s=46&t=GqHvgb9eyGRiwu_rZIVsEg

There were others too, who asked her to behave like a Governor and not the BJP’s agent.

First,you need to follow the protocol Madam. Behave as a governer,not like Amit Shah agent.

— Ragnar (@Bleed_pink_) March 3, 2023