Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan hits out at KCR

Madurai: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao saying that no protocol was being followed in the state as the CM didn’t meet her in two years.

Speaking to ANI at Madurai airport, the Telangana Governor said, “In Telangana, no protocol is followed. The chief minister has not met me for quite a long time. The constitution says that periodic discussions with the administrators — the chief minister with the governor — are necessary but this doesn’t happen in Telangana at all. For two years I have not met the chief minister. Everyone is putting questions on the governors but no one is questioning the chief ministers.”

“There should be a good relationship between the governor and the chief minister but that is totally lacking in Telangana,” the governor alleged.

Alleging that state ministers stay away from her official visits, Soundararajan added, “I have acted on all the Bills. I had invited the chief minister on several occasions but he did not come — be it festivals or during the Republic Day celebrations. On official visits, too, no local leader comes, no MLA or MP comes, and the chief minister doesn’t come. A governor should be treated like a governor, there is a standard operating procedure.”

Reacting to Tamil Nadu Assembly’s decision to pass a Bill allowing 12-hour work in factories, the Telangana governor said, “My opinion is not a political one but research has found that if we increase the working hours optionally, the resting hours can be increased, thereby enhancing the working potential.”

“I don’t want to comment on the resolution passed by another state,” she added.

Last week, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Factories (Amendment) Act 2023 extending the working hours from eight to 12-hour working hours for factory workers.

The bill would stretch the mandatory working hours to 12 hours from the present 8 hours of duty. Along with the opposition parties, DMK’s ally Congress, Communist Party of India, Marxist Communist Party, Madhyamik Party, Visika and others condemned the Bill and walked out of the Assembly.

Labour Welfare and Skill Development Minister C V Ganesan moved the Bill amid a huge uproar in the Assembly and the Bill was passed through a voice vote.