‘Against Tamil Nadu’s welfare’: DMK neta’s wife refuses to collect PhD from governor RN Ravi, poses with vc instead

TIRUNELVELI: A woman PhD scholar of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) caused a stir at its 32nd convocation in Tirunelveli on Wednesday when she refused to receive her doctorate from governor R N Ravi saying he is ‘someone who is against the welfare of Tamil Nadu'.The scholar, Jean Joseph, wife of a DMK functionary in Nagercoil, completed her research in microfinance. At the convocation, graduating students came to the stage with their certificates and posed with the governor. However, Jean Joseph purposefully walked past Ravi with her certificate and posed with vice-chancellor N Chandrasekar for a photograph before exiting the stage."I did this only as a way to register my protest against the governor, who has not contributed anything to the development of the state and has shown he is against the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. I believe in the ‘Dravidian' model of governance," said Joseph, whose husband Rajan is Nagercoil town deputy secretary of DMK. She told reporters that she doesn't have any personal enmity towards the governor. Meanwhile, BJP leader K Annamalai, in a social media post, condemned the act and accused the DMK of creating ‘unnecessary and useless drama' using an educational institution for scoring political points. A total of 37,376 students were conferred degrees in bachelor's, master's, MPhil, and PhD programmes at the convocation. As many as 759 candidates received their degrees in person while 650 were awarded PhD degrees. In all, 109 medallists were recognised for their outstanding achievements. A P Dimri, director, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, Mumbai, delivered the convocation address.