- 15 hours ago
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday for the third consecutive year, citing a muted microphone and alleged insults to the national anthem.
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00:00Hello and welcome. Good evening. You're tuned into Super 6 here on India Today. I'm Akshita
00:05Nantikopal. We'll begin this broadcast by getting you a sense of what to expect
00:09over the next one hour. We've got lots lined up for you, but we'll be putting the focus
00:13first on the big headline that's emerging from pole-bound Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu
00:19government versus governor fight. Not the first time it's happened, but today on the
00:23first day of the Tamil Nadu assembly, the governor, Arun Ravi, staged a walkout. This
00:28is the third year in a row that he's staging a walkout. The governor claims his mic was
00:33muted, claims insult to the national anthem. Chief Minister Stalin responding to his charges
00:39said no, it was an insult to crores of Tamilians, the way in fact the governor has reacted and
00:45walked out. We're going to get you all the details that showed on and exactly what transpired
00:49in the assembly. But also coming up on the show at 6.30 this evening, we'll be focusing
00:53on the latest updates coming in from Karnataka, a week after that footage of Sidramaya and
00:58D.K. Shuf Kumar having one-on-one quick, quick meetings with Rahul Gandhi. We are hearing
01:04that the big Delhi meet could happen next week and then we could just see a change of
01:10guard in Karnataka. We'll get you all of those details of the inside scoop of what's playing
01:15out in Karnataka, something that's been brewing for months together. I'm Akshra Tananda Gopal.
01:20Here are the top 10 headlines.
01:23Nitin Nabeen has taken charge as BJP national president after being elected unopposed. He's
01:28now the youngest ever to hold the party's top post.
01:33Big India Today impact in Noida Techie death case. The builder of the pit has been arrested.
01:39SIT has intensified its investigation into the matter. The SIT will submit a report in the
01:43next five days. Big governor versus government showdown in Tamil Nadu Assembly. Governor Arendt
01:49Ravi walks out, accusing the government of switching off his mic and not allowing him
01:53to speak. Chief Minister Stalin hits back, calling the walkout an insult to Tamarins in
01:58the Assembly.
02:00In Kerala, two similar showdown. Chief Minister Pinaray Vijayan takes on the governor in the
02:06Assembly. Vijayan accuses governor of unilaterally adding and deleting portions of the Cabinet.
02:13As Bangladesh's standoff with the BCCI intensifies, Dhaka's sports advisor has warned the International
02:19Cricket Council they will not accept pressure or unreasonable conditions over playing T20
02:24World Cup matches in India.
02:30Benchmark equity indices saw a sharp sell-off today, snapping recent attempts at stability
02:35and signalling a decisive shift in market sentiment. The sensex stumbled over 1,000 points while
02:39the nifty fell 3.53.
02:43In a bid to push for the acquisition of Greenland, the U.S. is preparing to deploy aircraft to
02:48a key military base in Greenland. According to the North America Aerospace Defense Command,
02:53the aircraft will soon arrive at Greenland's base and will support long-planned regional
02:58defense operations.
03:00The World Economic Forum has barred Iran from the Davos summit due to violent protests of
03:05the country, but Iran has blamed U.S.-based proxies.
03:09As world leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, several top Indian business
03:15leaders are set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the event. The CEOs
03:20will discuss policy priorities and economic direction.
03:25And Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest child of Victoria and David Beckham, has put out a post accusing
03:29his parents of controlling behaviour and attempting to undermine his marriage to Nicola Pence.
03:38And let's begin as we assured with, in fact, the big showdown in Tamil Nadu.
03:44The tensions flaring in the Tamil Nadu Assembly after Governor Arendravi and DMK clashed on the
03:50first day of the session. The Tamil Nadu governor, as he has the last two years as well, staged a walkout
03:57from the Assembly after declining to deliver an address prepared by the government, which
04:02is usually the norm. Now, the governor said multiple reasons led to his walkout. One, he
04:08says his mic was muted. Second, he says there were unsubstantiated claims in the address and
04:12the speech that was given to him. He also claims an insult to the national anthem. Now,
04:17Chief Minister Stalin was quick to hit back at the floor of the Assembly, lashing out to the
04:22governor saying he's insulted Tamarans across the state of Tamil Nadu. Let's get you all the details
04:27of what transpired in the Assembly first.
04:38It was a power-packed first day of the Tamil Nadu Assembly session. Tamil Nadu governor,
04:43Arun Ravi and Chief Minister Stalin locked horns in the Assembly. Arun Ravi walked out without reading
04:50the customary governor's address. Tamil Nadu governor alleged that the address prepared
04:55by the DMK government was filled with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.
05:01After Arun Ravi walked out of Assembly and left, Raj Bhavan released a statement which claimed that
05:07governor's mic was repeatedly switched off. The statement also added that Arun Ravi was
05:13interrupted when he tried to change the speech prepared by Tamil Nadu government. The statement
05:17pointed out that investment figures were inflated, an issue of women's safety completely ignored.
05:25Chief Minister Stalin hit out at the governor during the session and cited similar past
05:30behaviour that he claimed, insulted the Tamil Nadu assembly.
05:53The issue has snowballed into a full-blown political storm with BJP and allies attacking
06:11DMK for treating a constitutional post as its mouthpiece.
06:15It is a very big issue that expecting, as I already mentioned, expecting the governor
06:21to be a mouthpiece of the DMK's government is not fair.
06:24You want the governor to come and validate your lies.
06:27You want the governor to come and support your manipulative ideas and thoughts and the
06:31governors refuse to do that.
06:32It is very simple.
06:33So the chief minister getting upset over that is obvious.
06:38The governor categorically refused to state the same and speak the same.
06:43He sought the correct data and he wanted that to be set right and MK Stalin, instead of sticking
06:50on to the governor's speech, wants to have his own narrative filled into the governor's
06:55speech.
06:56While DMK accused the governor of working with a hidden agenda.
07:01We have been used to it because we very well know our assembly proceedings will be boycotted
07:07by the governor.
07:08The governor has his own political views in that aspect.
07:12So he had a fixed agenda to express.
07:15Amid heightened political tensions after the fireworks in the assembly, this just seems
07:21to be a trailer of a bigger showdown ahead of the assembly elections.
07:25With Pramod Madhav, Anagar Keshav and Apoorva Jayachandran, Bureau Report, India Today.
07:31So let's take you through the two versions that have essentially played out in the Tamil Nadu
07:39assembly.
07:40It started, of course, with the governor refusing to address the house as is the norm and then
07:47going ahead and staging a walkout.
07:49He's done this in 2025.
07:51He's done this in 2024.
07:53Previously, too, it's always been a bone of contention.
07:57And as, in fact, we get you those details of really what's played out, you had Governor
08:02Ravi saying that his mic was switched off repeatedly.
08:06Now, Chief Minister Stalin hit back saying the governor is trying to stall state administration.
08:11And this is because you had Governor Ravi saying issues linked to people were ignored
08:17in the address.
08:17So he says, I don't want to read out the speech because of the text that was in it.
08:21Now, Chief Minister Stalin has said that essentially what was given in the speech, the text of it
08:28reflected what the people of Tamil Nadu felt.
08:31This was their voice, essentially, that the governor refused to speak.
08:35The governor called all of the claims made in the speech as misleading, said it was full
08:40of inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.
08:44Now, to that, Chief Minister Stalin has said that this is an attempt, once again, by the
08:49BJP to centralize authority and to take away power from the state via governors.
08:54This has been, in fact, one of the big, big showdowns.
08:57Now, also what Governor Ravi has said is that there have been fake claims made of mega investment
09:02to which Chief Minister Stalin has said that there are attempts by the governor to interfere
09:07in non-BJP states in state matters.
09:10Let me bring, you know, on this broadcast our panelists, we've got Selam Dharani Dharan,
09:14spokesperson of the Dravidar Munitra Kargham, KV Dhananjay, advocator of the Supreme Court,
09:19and we have KC Paldiswamy, leader of the AIADMK.
09:23Mr. Dhananjay, I'd like to begin with you on what exactly is considered constitutional here
09:29for the governor when he's speaking in an assembly.
09:31Is there room for him to kind of reject the speech that's handed over to him by the state?
09:38Absolutely not.
09:38I mean, this is a scripted speech, and we follow this convention from what we've seen
09:44happen in the UK.
09:45It's called a King's Speech.
09:47There's also a very popular Hollywood movie by that name.
09:50The governor reads out a scripted speech, and the speech will always be congratulatory
09:55to the government of the day.
09:56So for the governor to say that there were inaccuracies doesn't make any sense.
10:01It's entirely possible that people would be dying of hunger, and it did happen in UK.
10:05There was a time when people were dying of hunger because there was no food to eat, and yet the
10:09government wanted to congratulate itself.
10:11So it wrote a speech that was very congratulatory, and the governor simply had to read it.
10:17I mean, the monarch there, the king had to read it in England.
10:20So why do we have a problem here in India?
10:23It's meant to be a scripted speech, and for the governor to say that there were inaccuracies
10:28here or that some things were exaggerated just doesn't make any sense at all.
10:32Now, it's understandable if the governor had a problem with the speech once, but now, you
10:37know, looking at your broadcast, it's like the governor has had this problem three years
10:40in a row.
10:41Yeah, third time.
10:42And that essence, yes, three years in a row, that's a lot.
10:45So the governor seems to be creating an issue here.
10:47The governor, you know, ought not to be doing any of these things.
10:50No, but I want to understand from you also, Mr. Dhananjay, is there room for misrepresentation
10:55or for going ahead and understanding what the constitution says in a different manner?
11:00Because if the governor is repeatedly doing this, and there's nothing that's been done
11:03about it, third year in a row that he staged a walkout, is there room for misrepresentation
11:07of what's being said in the constitution?
11:11Well, the constitution is quite silent about it.
11:13So this is a convention.
11:15So this is a healthy convention that we've followed from England and from many other
11:18commonwealth countries that believe that this always is a, that this is a healthy tradition.
11:24I said convention, I'm also tradition.
11:26Tradition because it's been followed for a very long time, hundreds of years.
11:29So, you know, at the start of the agenda, you have the governor or the monarch come forward
11:35and address the gathering.
11:37How?
11:38Through a scripted speech.
11:39And the scripted speech at the end of the day is always going to be inaccurate.
11:43How objective can it be?
11:45And does it make any sense for the government of the day to hand over to the governor to
11:49read, you know, a statement that's critical of the government?
11:52It's never going to happen.
11:53So the governor, I think, is misreading the constitution or he's being wrongly advised
11:58or the fact that, you know, it's happening three years in a row also means that the governor
12:02seems to really not understand his proper role under the constitution.
12:07And there's a larger context here.
12:08The larger context is the fact that in Tamil Nadu, a good number of bills were not being
12:13assented to or approved by the governor for a great deal of time, years to gather.
12:19And this matter did go to the Supreme Court.
12:20And we've seen the controversy in the Supreme Court in terms of one bent saying that it shall
12:25deem to have been automatically approved.
12:27And a larger bent saying that that cannot be the case under the constitution.
12:30But notwithstanding the disagreement in the Supreme Court itself over the issue, the fact,
12:35however, remains that the governor of Tamil Nadu has done something very unusual, which
12:39is to not deal with bills as and when the bills were presented.
12:44So if you look at this conduct with that, I mean, if you look at, you know, what's happening
12:48now in the context of what's happened before, it looks like the governor, unfortunately, is
12:53setting a very unhealthy precedent.
12:55And, you know, if this goes on for years, it's entirely possible, you know, for a state
13:01like Tamil Nadu might say that we will dispense with this governor's address because if they
13:05were to dispense with it, they have not violated any provision of the constitution.
13:09So who would be the loser then?
13:12The loser would be right now our constitution presupposes that the governor would be an individual
13:16with integrity and an individual who has no political affiliation and who will strive
13:21to be as neutral as possible. So if states start boycotting governors and not invite them to
13:27deliver these customary speech, then it's more like, you know, the states too would have pushed
13:31governors to a role where, you know, they are more like proxies for the center, where center is by
13:36one government, by one political party and state is by another. So I think it's largely the
13:42governor's fault, notwithstanding that for him to say that the mic was turned off.
13:46No, but this is the third time. This is the third time that, you know, he's gone ahead and staged
13:51this kind of a walkout for different, different reasons every single time. I'll bring in our
13:54political panelists also. We've got Selam Dhani Dharan of the DMK and Mr. Palani Sami of the AIA
14:00DMK. Dhani Dharan, to you first on what played out today, because the governor right now says that,
14:06look, there was an insult to the national anthem, that there were mentions in the speech that had
14:11inaccuracies. And that's why I chose not to speak and not to read the speech out.
14:18This is boring, because every January or every time the Tamil Nadu are simply convinced,
14:23and this is the same drama the governor does, and I have to come and explain the same thing
14:27time and again. Firstly and foremost, let's get it very clear. First, the Tamil Taewaltu is played,
14:33and after the end of the ceremonies, the national anthem is played. This is how
14:38it has been suggested by the government of India itself. This is how it's been happening
14:45in Tamil Nadu since the 1950s itself. It is not happening today. It was not happening yesterday.
14:50Even during AADMK's regime, first Tamil Taewaltu, then at the last national anthem. Even a year
14:56before, on the similar protest, the governor walked away. Even then, we clearly explained to the
15:02governor, listen, this is how it has been happening, even during AADMK's time, when BJP was in alliance
15:07with AADMK, no problem. Another question is, the governor is not elected. He is appointed.
15:14He has only duties and no functions. And it is custom, his address is very similar to the
15:21queen or king's address in the UK, because we follow the Westminster system. Have you ever
15:25seen the king or the queen digress from the speech, or the president of India digress from
15:29the speech? No. Fair point. Fair point. It is customary opening remark. Fair point. I'll
15:33bring in. Yeah, let me bring in. You've raised a couple of points, Darnithar. We'll take it
15:37issue by issue. But I'll give a chance to Mr. Pallisamy to respond. At this point, looking
15:42at what was said. I want to complete my argument. Yeah. Okay, Darnithar. Go ahead. It's not the
15:46first thing that has happened. A year back, he digress from the speech. Now we see what
15:54is the reason is not the truth. Let's assume it is not the truth. But he does not have a
15:59say in saying this is true, this is false. So as to highlight his message, thereby spreading
16:05misinformation and spreading fake news. That's what I accuse him of. Okay. I accuse him of
16:09spreading misinformation and fake news. Okay. Mr. Pallisamy, your response. Now,
16:13can anything really justify what the governor has done? It seems almost as if, you know,
16:17he's looking for an excuse to stage a walkout. Now, whatever the concerns raised by the governor
16:27regarding the governance of DMK government for the past four and a half years, he should have
16:34left that to the opposition leader, Mr. Edapadi Pallisamy, to raise those things in the assembly.
16:41Basically, governor has taken the powers as an opposition leader and he has spoken on that.
16:48Having he kept quiet, he has left it to the opposition leader. Mr. Edapadi Pallisamy might
16:55have set all that in the assembly record and walked out of the assembly. That would have
17:01been a more of a smart political move. But what is happening now…
17:04No, sir, Mr. Pallisamy, what you're suggesting is that the governor is acting like the leader
17:08of the opposition. You're suggesting the governor is acting like the leader of the opposition.
17:11No, no, no. Yeah, it's almost. It's almost. Because whatever is the omissions, commissions, corrections
17:22in the governor's address has to be pointed out by the opposition leader. That's not the
17:29job of the governor. That's not the job of the governor. Even if he had not, Mr. Edapadi
17:36Pallisamy, who is the opposition leader, might have done it. That's their job. Today, he has
17:42taken that in his hands, which he has given a scope to the DMK government when elections are
17:48nearby, just 100 days. So, DMK is making it as a big political issue,
17:54issue issue in the third round and something like that. They are trying to create, trying
18:00to use it for their advantage on anti-BJP. So, rather, governor who should have sticked on
18:08in his core agenda, as per the convention, had he left this to Mr. Edapadi Pallisamy.
18:16No, but the allegation here, the allegation, Mr. Pallisamy, the allegation here from the DMK
18:22is that the reason the governor is doing this is because he's doing it at the behest of the
18:26CCP, of your ally.
18:28No, no, see, forget, forget ally. See, there is, there is a, in a Dravidian movement, DMK, ADMK,
18:38both are the Dravidian parties. We have a convention for all these years, how the assembly has to
18:45function. The governor has to go by that convention. The whatever the issues raised by the governor,
18:53is the job of the opposition leader. That's not the job of the governor.
18:58This is a rare, rare occasion where I see the DMK and the AIA DMK on the same page. On the same page,
19:06as far as what the governor did is concerned, staging that walkout. The AIA DMK, therefore,
19:10agrees, agrees that it was unwarranted, the walkout. No, no, don't. No, no, no, don't take my views
19:18as the AIA DMK party stand. It's my view then. Don't take that as an AIA DMK party stand.
19:23Sir, you are representing the AIA DMK on my panel. You are representing the party on my panel, sir.
19:28No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am an ex-MP of AIA DMK and this is my view
19:37and I am not representing the party. Dhani Dharan, your response right now, you know, you've got…
19:42Don't take that as my view as the party. Dhani Dharan, your response to the charge that,
19:47you know, the DMK is making this political.
19:50I am asking for a right, making it political. As I said, in a Westminster system,
19:59Governor is nothing but a ceremonial head. The elected government by which the 8.4 crore
20:05people of Tamil Nadu has elected the MLS. The MLS in Dharan has elected Chief Minister,
20:09one who established his cabinet. So, whatever is written on the speech is nothing but the voice
20:14of the 8.4 crore Tamil Nadu people because it is prepared by the cabinet. Cabinet indirectly represents
20:19the voice of the people. By digressing or refusing to read that, he is insulting the people.
20:26To AIA DMK, Mr. KC Palniswamy's viewer or that of the AIA DMK, I would have been happy to an extent
20:33and then would have gone on to the next question, why is it then the opposition leader who is
20:38in alliance with BJP has not questioned the BJP government saying you should call this governor back?
20:44And why is this only happening in states ruled by non-BJP parties or rather parties in opposition to the BJP?
20:51Why has it not happened in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat? Can you tell me that 25 years in Gujarat Assembly
20:56has any government digress from the speech given by the elected government even one occasion?
21:03I can say in all socio-economic metrics, Gujarat is bad or rather in related terms just worse than Tamil Nadu.
21:10We have seen bridge collapses happening in Gujarat. We have seen a lot of crimes happening in Gujarat.
21:17Why has the governor not refused to speak there or why has he not digressed or why has it not happened in Madhya Pradesh
21:23when BJP is in power or in Bihar when BJP is in power? Why is there one constitution for BJP rule states and one constitution for non-BJP rule states?
21:32This is travesty to democracy and any leader be in alliance with BJP or not in alliance should go and question this to the BJP for the sake of the democracy.
21:40Until and unless democracy exists, only then the parties will exist. If there is no democracy, parties don't exist.
21:45This is erosion of democracy wherein an appointee who has nothing to do with the people, is completely disconnected with the people, is doing whatever he wants to do.
21:54If at all the governor is going to advise the government or run the government, then why do people have elected state government?
22:00Before I bring in Mr. Dhani Dhani, Mr. Paldis Swami, you have told us what you personally think about what's played out in the assembly.
22:06As a member of the AIADMK, what does the AIADMK stand on what happened, sir? Because the allegation constantly, as Dhani Dhani Dhani again has said, is that this is an attempt by the BJP to meddle in state affairs.
22:21Now, whatever the allegation raised by the governor is a perfect allegation. This government lacks in all that. There is no doubt on that.
22:29It would have been more appropriate had Mr. Edapadi Paldis Swami given the chance to raise all that in the assembly. Rather, governor has taken that in his hand.
22:40So, that has given a scope to the DMK party to make it as a political issue. That too, when the elections are close by.
22:49Okay, Mr. Dhani Dhani, I am going to give the final word to you, sir. With this current situation that's been playing out right now, and it's happening in multiple states, of course.
22:58You know, of the government versus the governor, of the governor constantly stalling the assembly, staging walkouts. We've seen this play out in several states.
23:06But legally, is there also a recourse that states can actually explore, can look into in such a circumstance, the third year in a row that we're seeing the same situation play out?
23:16Well, no. This would be one of those few matters where one can't just go to the courts at all, because this is non-justiciable, number one.
23:23Number two, this is unfortunately a very unhealthy pattern. It's not just in Tamil Nadu. It also happened in Kerala. And in Tamil Nadu, it's three years in a row.
23:32We've had sporadic instances in the past. In 1969, you had the governor in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly refuse to read certain statements because in his view, it was inaccurate.
23:43And there was, in fact, some realization afterwards. And we didn't see a repetition of these kinds of events. And now we are seeing, unfortunately, a plethora of them.
23:51I think it's important for the center to consider recalling the honorable governor of Tamil Nadu because this is setting an extremely unhealthy precedent. And this is not defensible at the end of the day.
24:01And I'm so glad that, you know, the individual, the person representing AADMK was not in a position to defend it because it's not defensible at all. It doesn't matter what political party you are, you belong to.
24:12But this is setting a very unhealthy precedent in this country. And the fact that it's happening in opposition-ruled states vis-a-vis the center, I think that's even more unhealthy.
24:21And my respectful request to the central government is, please take steps to recall the governor, the honorable governor of Tamil Nadu. He's setting an extremely unhealthy precedent.
24:30Agreed. It's setting an unhealthy or wrong precedent right now because you particularly see it in certain states that aren't BJP-ruled right now.
24:38But I'd like to thank our panelists for joining also on this broadcast. Mr. Dhananjay, Dhani Dharana and Mr. Parani Sami, thank you for joining us.
24:45But it's not just in Tamil Nadu. Today, day one of the assembly session in Kerala, again, similar face-off, government versus governor, which is what I was referring to, that in opposition-ruled states there seems to be the constant narrative.
24:59Chief Minister Pinerai Vijayan took on the Kerala governor. There was no walkout there, but the governor, Rajendra Arlikar, did in fact make his address, tweaked what was given by the government.
25:10So therefore, the Kerala chief minister accused the governor of unilaterally adding and deleting portions of the cabinet-approved policy address, alleging key references critical of the centre were deliberately skipped.
25:22This led to a big showdown. You, in fact, had the speaker in the Kerala assembly also backing the chief minister, saying any changes to the policy address without cabinet approval is unacceptable.
25:34So similar government versus governor showdown playing out in Kerala. To no walkout, the governor did go ahead with the state address, but tweaked parts of it. And that's what led to a showdown.
25:44Let's look to show up.
25:46The governor, the governor, is not the president of Kerala.
25:54The chief, the chief and the chief members of Kerala, will beวก at all.
29:35two litres of water was found in his lungs.
29:42Okay, I'll bring in Arun Tiagi for the latest updates.
29:46Arun, we have the visuals, the images that were in the car,
29:52that is now released.
30:05I'll tell you about the situation,
30:08that the car came to Naleh,
30:10but the car broke down.
30:13And the car came to Naleh,
30:15but the car came to Naleh,
30:17but now the car came to Naleh,
30:20and the car came to Naleh.
30:24So live images on your screens right now.
30:26What Arun is telling us is that they've located the car,
30:30but they're struggling to pull it out.
30:32This is essentially a massive pit.
30:34So there's a lot of slush there,
30:36and then it's about 30 feet deep.
30:37So a lot of water.
30:38So authorities to actually reach right down to that location
30:41and pull it out are struggling.
30:43They've been going around on boats with scuba teams
30:46through the last many hours trying to locate the car.
30:49They've managed to find it,
30:50but pulling it out is a huge struggle.
30:52And that itself tells you and speaks volumes
30:55of the struggle that Yuvrajo also went through.
30:59He had nowhere to go.
31:01He was stuck on top of that car
31:03as it continued to sink 30 feet deep.
31:06And so he couldn't even get out on his own.
31:08Nobody came to his rescue.
31:10There was a clear delay also
31:12in reaching to that particular location
31:14where he was stuck in that pit.
31:16As we continue to get you all of these live updates,
31:19remember it's taken 72 hours for the authorities
31:22just to locate where the car is.
31:24That's because of the wide expanse of that area
31:27covered completely in water.
31:29In many areas it's just a whole lot of slush
31:31and a lot of wild growth.
31:33So it's difficult really to be able to identify the car through that.
31:39But now finally they found where it is.
31:41They've not been able to pull it out just yet.
31:44So we'll continue getting you all of those updates.
31:55We're tracking very, very closely live that operation
31:58that's underway in that site in Noida.
32:01Let's move on now and continue getting you all the latest updates
32:04from Polebound Tamil Nadu.
32:05My colleague Pramod Madhav has been travelling
32:07to different districts across the state
32:09to give you a sense of what the people of Tamil Nadu
32:12want addressed in their area.
32:14His latest episode is from Rameshwaram
32:17where he's spoken to fishermen who are living in fear.
32:20Repeated arrests by the Lankan Navy.
32:22The threat of years of rigorous punishment
32:24has got them all scared to even go ahead
32:26and ensure that they practice their livelihood
32:30without any problems.
32:32Here's Pramod Madhav's report.
32:56Election Vashar has reached another district
33:07and this side is Ramnadapuram
33:09where the important aspect is about Rameshwaram
33:12because on one side this is a sacred place
33:15an islet that is connected to the mainland
33:18through this particular bridge portals, the Fountain Bridge.
33:21And over there you could see why this particular island
33:24is very, very important because very beautiful
33:27on one side you have coconut trees
33:29and on the other side Kuchidup.
33:31But particularly and it came to Spana,
33:34this island is considered as a sacred one
33:37because at Perlaget, Rama, Naudrama
33:39after receiving his wife Pita,
33:41he came over there and he conspired
33:44in the construction of a beautiful Rameshwaram temple
33:47where a lingdam was placed by them
33:50and that is why this place is a very important tourist spot.
33:53This is the beauty, serenity of Rameshwaram
33:56which has been governed by various kingdoms earlier
33:59and finally he went to the British Empire.
34:02However, this place is extremely important
34:05because it's the closest point to Sri Larkar.
34:08This is at Gulf of Manat and because of which
34:10there is a huge problem that we will discuss later.
34:13But still, we would like to first show you
34:15what is Rameshwaram and how beautiful it is.
34:18This is the place, an islet where the only form of life source was fishy.
34:24That's why you could see so many boats from this port.
34:27The important aspect of Rameshwaram, you heard about the history.
34:43The history is behind us, the temple that seems to be very important.
34:46But the livelihood of the people of Rameshwaram being an island is only fishing
34:51and that's why you see hundreds of boats over here.
34:54There are two types of boats.
34:56One is called as the trolleys.
34:58That one currently here, this is a trolley on that side.
35:01And then you also have something called as country boats
35:05which you see over here.
35:06It will not be that big.
35:07Earlier it used to have sails
35:09and now it is a little bit more modernized.
35:11The biggest problem for the fishermen at this port
35:14is that they are dependent on the sea
35:17but they cannot go any close to Sri Lanka.
35:20So that is a very, very big problem for them.
35:22And even after that, they dare to venture into the sea
35:25knowing that they are being harassed.
35:27They are being attacked and they are being arrested.
35:30Put hefty fine by the Sri Lanka Navy
35:33because there is no other livelihood.
35:35They cannot do farming.
35:36There is not much land over there.
35:38And all they can do is survive on this.
35:40And that is why four fishermen
35:42were supposed to go there and freely fish.
35:45That has become an ordeal,
35:47a kind of challenge every time
35:49for them to go over there and catch their fish and come back.
36:06And those are the images on your screens
36:13of the car in which Noida,
36:15techie, 27-year-old Yuvraj,
36:17was traveling in that fell into the ditch,
36:21the 30-feet deep ditch.
36:23He drowned to his death.
36:25Three days on, 72 hours on,
36:27finally the officials have been able to locate the car,
36:31locate the vehicle and pull it out.
36:33Those images are on your screens.
36:35It was right down at the bottom of that 30-feet deep ditch
36:39and it's now been pulled out by the authorities.
36:42They had quite a struggle for the last many days,
36:44trying to even locate it.
36:46That entire area filled with water,
36:48with slush, with wild growth,
36:50they've finally been able to locate it.
36:52But it tells you really what 27-year-old Yuvraj had to endure,
36:56what he went through as he waited for some help,
37:00as he waited for someone to come to his aid.
37:03Nobody did, of course,
37:04which is why he unfortunately drowned to his death
37:07on that cold, cold night over the weekend.
37:09And now the car being pulled out after hours of search.
37:13Rescue authorities for the last many days
37:16have been searching their entire area,
37:18going around in boats,
37:20taking scuba teams as well
37:22to go and dive right in,
37:24dive deep and find the vehicle.
37:26They've finally been able to pull it out.
37:30Arvind Oja is joining us with more details on this.
37:33Arvind, finally the car being located after great difficulty.
37:37It's been a long time for 4 days,
37:40the car was being removed.
37:42The team of NDRF,
37:44the team of NDRF,
37:45the team of NDRF,
37:46the team of NDRF,
37:47the effort of the practice,
37:49the car was being removed.
37:50The car was being removed.
37:51After that,
37:52if you can see,
37:53the water is under the NDRF team,
37:56the team of NDRF is being removed.
37:59It was getting out of the morning.
38:01The most important thing is that
38:03the car was being removed.
38:05It was getting out of the morning
38:07and this was another place.
38:08This is not a Yamuna river.
38:10It's not a big river,
38:12and there was some well- drill part of the NDRF
38:14in the NDRF.
38:15From 150 sectors,
38:17the farm was a place.
38:18The farm was in the basement.
38:20The fish was stored on the river.
38:22The water was left,
38:23the fish on the river,
38:25the engineer of the Uvaraj
38:26was pulled over.
38:28The oil was over.
38:30Done for the rescue,
38:31and the police had taken over
38:33to rescue him.
38:34to rescue him.
38:36So, this was a big mistake.
38:39The Noda authority was removed.
38:42Maybe the Noda's car was removed.
38:45At the moment, the car was tracked.
38:48The pictures came in front of the car.
39:04It was a very sharp turn.
39:06And there were concrete blocks that were just, in fact,
39:09dividing the road and that massive pit.
39:13In one area, there was no concrete block.
39:16And so, because there was no visibility, Uvraj, instead of taking right,
39:19went straight into that pit as a result.
39:23He didn't know what to do.
39:25This was in the dead of the night.
39:26He immediately got out of the car, stood on top of the vehicle,
39:29as anyone would do, thinking your fighting chance
39:32is to get on top of the vehicle
39:34so you don't immediately drown in that massive pit.
39:36He had his phone with him.
39:38He sought help.
39:39He begged for help.
39:40Authorities reached there, very delayed.
39:42And yet, despite that, there are so many reports,
39:44including eyewitnesses, who suggest
39:46that there was no attempt even made by the authorities to reach him,
39:49that they didn't go into that water and try to pull him out.
39:53But having said that, Uvraj was seated on top of that car,
39:56begging for help for hours.
39:58He was on top of that vehicle,
40:00hoping someone would be able to pull him out safely.
40:02He had nowhere to go.
40:04He was stuck there.
40:05Eventually, tragically, drowned to his death.
40:08But just look at how that car is being pulled out.
40:11I mean, all of the muck, the growth, the wild growth,
40:14the car was stuck right in between that,
40:17wedged right in there.
40:18And it had gone right to the bottom of the pit,
40:20which is why it took so much time and effort
40:22for authorities to even fish it out.
40:24And just imagine the ordeal that this 27-year-old techie had to undergo
40:28for no reason at all, for no blame of his.
40:33He was stuck in that position.
40:35Zero visibility.
40:36And anyone who drives through Delhi NCR will watch for the fact
40:39that this happens very often in winter,
40:41that you can just barely about see what's in front of you.
40:44And so this young techie driving in the dead of night,
40:47no reflectors, nothing along that particular stretch,
40:50went straight into the ditch.
40:52There has been a crackdown since with the authorities ensuring
40:56that all of the top, including the Noida Authority CEO,
41:00is sacked for allowing this kind of a pit to not just be there,
41:05but to languish, to lie there with so much of water.
41:09The builder, by the way, has also been cracked down on.
41:19Bupendra Chaudhry, who is joining us live from the spot.
41:23Bupendra, let us tell us what's happening there.
41:25As we are seeing now, the car finally managed to pull it out.
41:29The car finally managed to pull it out.
41:31The car is out of it.
41:33I have been out of it for about 6-7 hours.
41:36After that, the car is out of it.
41:38It was coming to you in the hospital,
41:41but the car, the car after coming to you,
41:43that was coming out of it.
41:45It hit that car.
41:46The car was running away from inside.
41:48It was coming in and up to get down.
41:50Finally, after taking a walk in the car...
41:52After coming to him, the car was coming back.
41:54It was getting away from 6-7 hours.
41:56But the problem is that the car was breaking.
41:58The car was on last.
41:59But the car will be running.
42:00But the car was only getting out there,
42:02If the car was running by 4 months,
42:03then the car could play that car.
42:04which is the support of the car on the bed and the bed.
42:09Okay, Bupendra getting us that update there.
42:13From the ground, the tragedy site there in sector 150 of NIDA,
42:18the car has been pulled out.
42:21Let me also highlight here what the post-mortem report confirmed.
42:24That young Uvaraj, who was stuck atop that car in the freezing cold,
42:28yelling and begging for help, drowned to his death.
42:32In his lungs, they found one to two litres of water.
42:35For hours, he tried to fight.
42:37He even called his father, saying, I don't want to die.
42:40His father begged for help.
42:42And yet nobody could actually reach this young man and pull him out.
42:46There are serious questions being asked of the authorities
42:48and the kind of help that they were able to provide.
42:51Why was the rescue team that was present there not going into the water,
42:54not pulling him out, not providing all necessary help?
42:57Why didn't they have adequate equipment to do so?
42:59There are so many questions that are being asked,
43:02but just the struggle for the authorities to pull out that vehicle
43:06and look at the muck that's being pulled out with it.
43:09It gives you a sense, really, of what it's taken
43:11and how much of a struggle Uvaraj really went through.
43:15Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor is joining me on the phone line with more on this.
43:18Sonal, you were there at that spot early this morning.
43:20You saw the hunt going on for this car.
43:23But take us through, really, what that location looks like, Sonal,
43:26because that, in a sense, also highlights the glaring lapses that come to the fore.
43:31Just to say that this car that we see on our television screens right now,
43:38it's been inside that entire water body for four days.
43:43It's taken the authorities four days to bring out that car.
43:47They also lost critical hours to save the life of Uvaraj as well,
43:52a very young, promising 27-year-old who could not be saved
43:57despite all the authorities being there, standing there and not knowing what to do.
44:02It's a national shame that here, in such close proximity to the national capital,
44:07this is the situation.
44:08But coming back to this car, just look at that.
44:11Today, finally, after four days, the NDRS had actually got onto that water body.
44:16They got their boats out. They got divers.
44:18They wore their entire suits in.
44:21They went in scuba and finally tried to find the car.
44:24They caught it with location at 11 in the morning.
44:27It's taken them now almost quarter to seven to get this car out.
44:30That again highlights perhaps the massive inefficiency of the system.
44:36Four days later, you finally get your hands on the car and see where it's been found.
44:41It's found right there next to the edge.
44:43That means perhaps the car was not speeding the way which we were earlier thinking.
44:48It felt right into the ditch, flattened.
44:51It's right next to the crack where, also to remind our viewers,
44:54as we've been saying since the very beginning, that just 15 days ago,
44:58another truck had fallen down the same track.
45:01That there was a bit of a dent which is there, where you see there was a breach,
45:05and that's where the Grand Batara went in as well.
45:07Now, this, at the moment, has gotten and shocked so many people,
45:11because, Akshira, this could have been your in my car.
45:14This is not a very far-off place.
45:16It's 150 sector.
45:18You have apartments there, which sell out for 2CR, 3CR on the whole.
45:22This is the kind of place people aspire to live in and look at the facilities there,
45:27look at the infrastructure there.
45:28This is shocking, embarrassing, to say the least.
45:32And clearly now, like we've been saying from the very beginning,
45:35just removing the CEO of Noida Authority,
45:37who sat on complaint after complaint for six years at the stretch,
45:42will not be enough.
45:42They've got more answering to do, and what are they doing now?
45:45Because, remember, several death traps like these,
45:48these deadly right-angle turns, which do not have blinkers,
45:52which do not have any kind of barricading,
45:54which does not even have a street light or a CCTV camera.
45:58These, there are so many of these all across Noida and Greater Noida.
46:02These are death traps and disasters which are waiting to happen.
46:06The authorities have got to get its act together
46:08and figure out how to fix the system to its core.
46:11You're right, Sonula.
46:12And, you know, here on India Today, we promise to follow this up,
46:15not just to ensure justice for young Yuvraj,
46:18but also to highlight all of those death traps
46:20that Sonal was referring to across the country.
46:23This isn't just one city's problem.
46:25This is an urban nightmare across the country.
46:28Let's face it, the kind of infrastructure that we have,
46:31accidents, mishaps, tragedies like this,
46:34are waiting, waiting to happen,
46:36which is why I would even say that this isn't an accident.
46:39It's outright murder.
46:41This was something that was waiting to happen.
46:42And we've consistently reported of the number of warnings,
46:46because you had similar incidents of vehicles falling, by the way,
46:49through that boundary into the ditch.
46:51In those cases, absolutely miraculous that nobody died.
46:54But this was a tragedy, therefore, waiting to happen,
46:57that nobody cared about until, unfortunately,
47:00the demise of 27-year-old Yuvraj.
47:07And that's all we have time for in this edition of Super 6.
47:10Thanks very much for tuning in.
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