Guv-CM tussle will affect state well-being: Tamilisai

Disagreement between the Governor and duly elected Chief Minister of state will only affect the state's well-being, Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Tuesday and opined that Chief Ministers should not exceed the brief and act like dictators.

She said both Telangana and the Union Territory of Puducherry (of which she is the Lieutenant Governor) presented a picture of contrast. ''Telangana is an example of what happens when the Governor and the Chief Minister are in disagreement, resulting in the people's well-being getting affected. Puducherry is an example of how much the people will benefit if the Governor and Chief Minister cherish cordial ties between them. Both are two extremes,'' Dr Tamilisai said.

She was speaking after releasing coffee table books on ''One among and amongst the people'' and ''A year of positivity'' at a function here.

''My only regret is that democratically elected Chief Ministers should not become dictators,'' she said.

Her remarks come in the wake of her persistent charge that bureaucrats are not attending her Praja Darbar and also the latest development in Tamil Nadu where the government has expressed displeasure over the Governor for not forwarding the Assembly anti-NEET bill for Presidential assent.

Before her elevation as Governor of Telangana, she had faced criticism while serving as president of Tamil Nadu BJP but she had remained unfazed then. ''I kept my doors open for the party members to meet and discuss issues with me. Now as Governor it is becoming a wee bit difficult to coolly pocket criticism because when I keep the doors of Raj Bhavan open for Praja Darbar, it is becoming problem to someone,'' she said.

One should view high positions in life as an occasion to serve the people by being one among them, she said and added that she preferred to be one among the people to serve them. Dr Tamilisai said her recent visit to the national capital was adversely criticised and talks that she would be transferred made rounds. ''But, the truth is, I had been to Delhi to attend the marriage function in the family of Dr Jitendra Singhji (Union Minister of State for Science and Technology),'' she said. It was strange that people watched only to criticise. ''One should always strive to be in the position, which remains forever in the heart of the people,'' Tamilisai advised and in a lighter vein remarked that one who has worked with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Puducherry could work anywhere in the country, even in Tamil Nadu.