Tamilisai resigns as Telangana governor, likely to contest elections
Mar 19, 2024 07:28 AM IST
Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan resigned from the constitutional post on Monday, saying that she wanted to “serve the public directly” amid speculation that she might contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu.
Soundararajan, who was also the lieutenant governor of Puducherry, submitted her resignation from both posts to President Droupadi Murmu, an official statement said.
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“The Hon’ble governor of Telangana and lieutenant governor of Puducherry Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has tendered her resignation with immediate effect. The resignation has been submitted to the honourable President of India,” the communique said.
Soundararajan was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ( BJP) Tamil Nadu unit president for five years before she was appointed as the governor of Telangana in November 2019. She contested the last Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Thoothukudi but lost to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Kanimozhi.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a person familiar with the matter said Soundararajan told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday that she wanted to return to active politics.
“She might contest from Puducherry or Chennai (central) or Thoothukudi. She is awaiting clearance from the BJP national leadership,” the person added.
Soundararajan said that she resigned from the posts of her own volition, adding that she wanted to involve herself “in intense public service”.
“There was no pressure [to resign]. I resigned of my own volition, as my desire is to serve the public directly. I want to involve myself in intense public service,” she said after arriving in Chennai. She, however, did not comment on whether she will contest the upcoming general elections.
“My resignation has to be accepted first. Let that happen, I will disclose to you about my future plans later,” she said.
DMK spokesperson A Saravanan hit out at Soundararajan, saying that she made “unnecessary political statements” during her tenure as the governor. “After the BJP made her the governor, Tamilisai did everything except that job,” he added.
In December, Soundararajan visited the flood-hit Thoothukudi district and criticised the Tamil Nadu government and chief minister MK Stalin for “mismanaging” the situation. The DMK countered her at the time, saying that her statements were “unconstitutional and unbecoming of a governor”.
“The fact that she has to quit a governor’s post — which is usually a retirement post in Indian politics— and then likely contest the polls shows that the BJP doesn’t have enough people in Tamil Nadu to stand in the elections, ” Saravanan added.
Before leaving for Chennai, Soundararajan said she was unhappy to leave the people of Telangana but was content that she was returning to “the service of people”.
“I am very unhappy to leave the Telangana people. I thank each and everyone, my brothers, sisters and elders of Telangana. I will always be in touch with you. Telangana days are very, very memorable for me. I really thank them for the love and affection shown on me. Your sister, ever.. But, I am happy I am returning to the service of people,” she said.
Soundararajan’s tenure as the Telangana governor was marked by frequent run-ins with the former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) state government over the withholding of bills and alleged violations of protocol, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the established norms of functioning.
(With inputs from Chennai)
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.
