Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday for 90 minutes and submitted a report on the state’s general law-and-order situation, according to a report by Deccan Chronicle citing a message from Lok Bhavan.
The meeting followed Arlekar’s assumption of office as Tamil Nadu’s full-time Governor on October 16. He had earlier held additional charge of Tamil Nadu while continuing as Governor of Kerala, a position he took up on March 12, the report said.
During the meeting at Shah’s residence, the Governor is reported to have briefed the Union Home Minister on recent public-safety concerns and crime incidents in Tamil Nadu. The report did not specify the contents of the document submitted to Shah or identify any immediate decision taken by the Union government after the meeting.
The meeting came days after Arlekar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on November 6. Its timing has drawn attention because the state government has been facing criticism over its handling of law-and-order concerns and several reported crime incidents.
According to Deccan Chronicle, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had earlier held discussions for three consecutive days with senior officials of the state police department. The discussions focused on taking stock of the law-and-order situation, and the Chief Minister issued instructions to curb what the report described as rising crime.
The report said several complaints involving different types of crime had been raised in the state. It cited a series of murders reported across Tamil Nadu on Deepavali Day and referred to allegations involving a ruling-party MLA and the Deputy Speaker. The MLA was accused of sending messages to a woman district collector, while the Deputy Speaker faced allegations of attacking a member of the public who had approached him with a grievance in the constituency. The report did not state that either allegation had been established by a court or concluded through a final official inquiry.
Lok Bhavan described the meeting as part of the Governor’s engagement with the Union Home Minister following his assumption of office. The report said the issues concerning public safety and the allegations involving elected representatives were suspected to have been discussed, but no detailed account of the conversation was released.
For residents, the immediate significance of the meeting lies in the escalation of law-and-order concerns from state-level police and administrative discussions to a briefing involving the Governor and the Union Home Minister. The next publicly reported step will be any formal response from the state government, the police department or the Union government on the contents of the report and the measures being considered.
