Chennai: Governor R N Ravi suddenly left for Delhi by a 11.00 am Vistara Airlines flight on Thursday, giving rise to a plethora of speculations that ranged from the Union Government summoning him in the aftermath of complaints raised by the ruling DMK and its allies in various forums against him to the Delhi trip being a purely personal visit.
Coming on the day when MPs of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance were visiting Anna Arivalayam to read and sign a memorandum to the President of India, seeking the withdrawal of Ravi from the Raj Bhavan, the trip triggered several conjectures though the Governor is known for making brief visits to Delhi regularly.
Since the booking was made on late Wednesday night initially for an early morning flight and then was then changed for a 11 am flight, the political grapevine had it that the strident stand taken by the united opposition on Wednesday against Ravi for his public statements that were described as being not keeping with the traditional ethos and beliefs of the people could have rung alarm bells in Delhi.
When the BJP was seriously focusing on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that are less than two years away and was keen on winning as many seats as possible in Tamil Nadu, a vociferous complaint about the Governor shaking the basic conventional belief systems in the State could be a matter of concern for those plotting the strategy to win over the people.
However, some sources claimed that the Governor was visiting the national capital on some personal work and would come back the very next day. His return journey has been booked in a 8.15 pm Vistara Airlines flight.
Last week, Ravi had taken a morning flight to Delhi and returned the same night and in many earlier occasions too had gone on short visits.
Meanwhile the broadside against the Governor continued with full gusto in the opposition camp even on Thursday as Dravidar Kazhagam President K Veeramani, one of the signatories of the statement asking Ravi to stop speaking against the Constitution and local beliefs, said on Thursday that Ravi was twisting history.
He alleged that the Governor at a function organized to the merger of Kanyakumari district with Tamil Nadu that it was the westerners who changed the history of the nation and also spoiled the culture, adding that it was not in tune with the facts.
