Once upon a time, I knew Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi when he was in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in the 1990s. He was a police officer who evolved into an espiocrat. He was a sweet man.
At the time, Ravi was part of the K-group for Kashmir operations, then facing a violent insurgency. It was headed by A.S. Dulat, the future chief of India’s spy agency (and my future co-author). Ravi also had a stint in Srinagar with the IB around that period. He seemed far from a right-winger.
He later moved to the Northeast group, headed by future IB chief PC Haldar. Ravi invited me to meet the group, presumably because my in-laws are from the north-eastern region. It was a cheerful meeting, but I had little influence with my in-laws, and Ravi and I gradually lost touch.
I next heard of him in 2012-13, when he was a participant in Track Two meetings between senior intelligence officials of India and Pakistan. These meetings have no official sanction but serve as sounding boards for ideas that participants carry back to their governments. Ajit Doval, then a former IB chief, attended two or three meetings.
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But in 2013, when it became clear that the BJP might win the 2014 parliamentary election, Doval stopped attending the meetings, and Ravi followed suit.
New Prime Minister Narendra Modi selected Doval as his National Security Advisor (NSA) and Ravi was appointed the chairman of the historically impotent Joint Intelligence Committee. He was also appointed the interlocutor in the Naga peace process. Having been part of the Northeast group, he signed a peace accord in 2015 with Modi and Doval benignly looking on. Ravi was then appointed Nagaland Governor in 2019 and in September 2021 he shifted to Chennai’s Raj Bhawan.
And then, he changed. His former boss, two-time IB chief MK Narayanan, who lives in Chennai, reportedly wondered aloud: “What has happened to this fellow?”
The Governor was on a rampage, holding up 10 Bills passed by the DMK State government since November 2023. The Supreme Court has now judged his action illegal and erroneous. This is no surprise given the non-executive role of the Governor under our Constitution.
Political motive or loyalty?
Why did he do it? Was it simply anti-DMK behaviour, driven by a desire to be more loyal than the king (in this case, New Delhi)?
One of the bills sought to ban online gambling, which has brought ruin to many a Tamil family. Several online gambling businesses went to Raj Bhawan and pretended to be anti-DMK, so he held up the bill. It earned him the epithet of “Rummy Ravi”.
Worse, however, is his championing of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The DMK has been at loggerheads with the Centre on NEET, wanting to keep its own system for medical college admissions; it is more democratic as it does not disadvantage poor students. The State Assembly passed a bill disfavoring the NEET, but Ravi has refused assent.
In August 2023, the Governor invited students who had cleared NEET to Raj Bhavan. A father stood up and declared that while he was happy for his daughter, he opposed the NEET as it only served those who could afford coaching. His microphone was snatched, and Ravi mouthed homilies on the virtues of NEET, the same he parrots at every university he visits
More damaging was his refusal to clear names submitted by the State government for the posts of Vice Chancellor in five universities. Instead, he tried to smuggle in nominees of the University Grants Commission (UGC), usurping the State’s prerogative.
Consequently, administrative work has gotten stuck in these universities. He avoids the graduation ceremonies at such universities. This delays the convocation, which holds up the students’ certificates. Now he has no choice but to allow varsity work to proceed, given that the Supreme Court has told him, and all Governors, not to interfere with the mandate of the people.
In early 2023 he stirred up controversy by sending invites in the name of the Governor of Tamizhagam. A fellow who lacked prior experience of Tamil Nadu was trying to change its name. Public outcry forced him to rapidly backtrack.
His most public confrontation with the DMK has been over the Governor’s address, prepared by the State government. The first year, he tried to alter the address; the Assembly would not accept that in the record. The second year, he again did not read the prepared address. And the year after that, he made a show of walking out because he wanted the national anthem played at the beginning of the address, in place of the Tamil anthem as is traditionally done in the State.
Clearly, Ravi is only there to create trouble, like the bull in jallikattu. (The less said about his Chidambaram temple-town allegations, the better.)
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When Ravi arrived in Chennai, he had a confrontational relationship with Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudi. The Minister was dropped over corruption charges, and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin tried to smooth things by appointing a milder Minister. Yet the Governor remained belligerent
Ravi’s predecessor was a BJP politician who was guided by long-established norms and practice, maintaining a polite distance from governance. The Governor has a specific role, clarified by the apex court this week, and in essence is there as a placeholder between elected governments.
The BJP’s antipathy towards the DMK and Dravidian politics is well-known. Tamil Nadu is impervious to the BJP; hence the Governor’s frustrated bullying. The real epithet should be “Revenge Ravi”.
Recently, the Governor was interviewed by a north-east newspaper. He was “briefly passing through” the region and declared that India was prepared “for any eventuality” on the security front.
I wondered if his eyes were on a bigger prize? After all, Doval is past 80 and has deeply embarrassed Modi by recklessly trying to assassinate Khalistan supporters on US soil. If Ravi is too shameless to quit the Raj Bhawan in Chennai on his own, he may perhaps replace a similarly shameless cop.
Aditya Sinha is a writer living on the outskirts of Delhi.
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