With no thaw in the relationship in sight between the Raj Bhavan and the DMK government, Chief Minister MK Stalin is skipping the ‘At Home’ reception hosted by Governor RN Ravi on Republic Day and instead, is slated to participate in an event organised by the villagers in and around Arittapatti, in Madurai district to thank him for the cancellation of the Tungsten mining lease in that region.

It is seen as a snub to the Raj Bhavan since the Governor had been on a warpath with the state government on many issues. Earlier this month, he walked out of the Assembly on the first session of the year, without delivering the customary Governor’s address.

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A delegation of the Tungsten Mining Protest Committee called on Stalin at the secretariat on Saturday and thanked him for the state government’s efforts to get annulled the mining lease granted to Vedanta’s Hindustan Zinc Ltd., and also extended an invite for the event to be held at Arittapatti. Members of the delegation told the media that the Chief Minister had accepted their invite.

Following sustained protests by the locals of the 50 villages, and a resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly opposing the project in the region, a biodiversity hotspot which is also archaeologically important, the Union Government had cancelled the mining lease on January 23. Prior to that, BJP State president K Annamalai had led a delegation of village community leaders to meet Union Coal and Mines Minister Kishan Reddy in the national capital.

The Chief Minister, after participating in the flag hoisting on the Marina seafront on Sunday morning, will leave for Madurai in the afternoon and visit Arittapatti and Vellalapatti to meet the villagers, official sources said. Welcoming the annulment of the mining lease, Stalin had claimed that the Union Government had bowed down due to the protests and the resolve of the state government.

While the Chief Minister is skipping the ‘at home’, it is not clear as to whether the ruling DMK will be represented by his cabinet colleagues. The DMK’s allies, including the Congress, Marumalarchi DMK of Vaiko, MP, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) of Thol Thirumavalavan, MP, and the Left Parties are boycotting the Governor’s reception charging him with acting against the interests of the state. Last year, while the allies boycotted, the Chief Minister had attended it with his cabinet colleagues.