Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai on Tuesday slammed the Stalin government for not implementing the gaming ban ordinance approved by the governor in October. The former IPS officer said the DMK government waited for the ordinance to lapse to shift the blame on the governor for not approving the bill replacing the ordinance.

Taking to Twitter, Annamalai questioned why the gaming authority as laid down under the ordinance is not notified till date. Referring to the State government submission before the Madras High Court, the TN BJP chief said online gaming continued despite an ordinance in place for the last two months.

3. அக்டோபர் 8ஆம் தேதி முதல் நவம்பர் 27ஆம் தேதி வரை ஆன்லைன் சூதாட்டத்தினால் ஆறு பேர் உயிரிழந்துள்ளனர்.

அதாவது, மாநில அரசு அரசாணையை அறிவிக்கத் தவறியதாலும், அது காலாவதியாகும் வரை காத்திருந்ததாலும், ஆன்லைன் சூதாட்டம் தமிழகத்தில் இன்றும் தொடர்கிறது. (5/5)

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) November 29, 2022

The comments from K. Annamalai gains significance as R.N. Ravi, the governor is under fire for not assenting to the bill replacing the ordinance. Non-NDA parties have accused the Governors of running parallel governments in non-BJP ruled states by stalling bills approved by elected legislatures.

Clarifying the queries raised by the Governor, the Tamil Nadu government on last Friday said no complete ban on online games has been proposed but only online gambling has been proscribed in the state under the Bill. The Governor particularly raised queries in relation to doctrine of proportionality since the earlier law was struck down by the Madras High Court on this ground.

Several political parties including DMK, CPM, CPM, MDMK, PMK, and VCK registered their criticism to Governor over his inaction to assent the Bill. While demanding the immediate approval of legislation, PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss said, “More than 32 people have committed suicide due to online gaming in the last 15 months. In a bid to prevent such a tragedy, a ban on online gaming is a must.”