Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Monday triggered a fresh row in the ongoing rift between him and the State government by refusing to read out the customary inaugural address of the Legislative Assembly for 2024 and at one point walked out of the House.
He announced his decision after reading the first paragraph of the address prepared by the government that wished “happiness, prosperity and well-being” in the new year and quoted a couplet from Tirukkural.
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Later in the day, the Raj Bhavan, in a release, said the Governor “with due regard to the constitutional proprieties expressed his inability to read the address as it contained numerous passages with misleading claims and facts and reading them would have amounted to Governor’s address becoming a constitutional travesty.”
Click here to read/download the intended speech of Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi
After Mr. Ravi tersely ended his speech by citing reasons to justify his stand, Speaker M. Appavu read the prepared address in Tamil in entirety in Governor’s presence. Later, the Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by the Leader of the House and Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan. As per the resolution, the Speaker said only the prepared text of the speech as provided to the members and nothing else will go on the records of the Assembly. This was similar to a decision taken by the House last year when the Governor skipped certain portions of the address and also made certain extempore remarks.
Mr. Ravi walked out of the House when Mr. Duraimurugan, upon being called by the Speaker, rose to propose the resolution. Prior to calling Mr. Duraimurugan, Mr. Appavu made certain remarks on the short speech made by the Governor. However, at a press conference in his chamber later, he said both the Governor’s remarks and the remarks he himself made stood “expunged”.
In its statement, the Raj Bhavan blamed the Speaker for launching a tirade against him in the Assembly instead of playing the national anthem after concluding the Tamil version of the address. The statement contended that the Speaker called the Governor “a follower of Nathuram Godse and more”. Alleging that the Speaker “lowered the dignity of his chair and grace of the House” with his “unbecoming conduct,” the statement said the Governor left the House with due regard to the dignity of his office.
National anthem
The Raj Bhavan also said the government chose to ignore the Governor’s advice on playing national anthem at the beginning and end of the address. Referring to the remarks on the same made by the Governor in his short speech in the House, Mr. Appavu, after adopting the resolution, said the Tamil Nadu Assembly respected national anthem and played it at the end of the address as per conventions. He said Mr. Ravi had written a letter to him on the same last year and the issue was resolved.
Arguing that the Governor should have stayed till the national anthem was played at the end in deference to the dignity of the House, Mr. Appavu later told the media that the conventions and rules of the Assembly cannot be changed as per Governor’s preferences. He said Tamil Thai Vazhthu was played at the beginning and national anthem was played at the end as per conventions. Moreover, he said, national anthem is also played when the Governor is provided the Guard of Honour when he reaches Assembly to deliver the address.
The Governor did not point out any passage in particular that he had a problem with.
Majority of the 48-page speech lauded the State government for its various achievements in economic and social spheres. Highlighting the funds the State had sought from the Union government towards relief for the devastating floods in December, the speech expressed hope that the funds from the National Disaster Response Fund would be released.
The speech observed that the State was facing a revenue shortfall of ₹20,000 crore per year due to the termination of GST compensation regime. It expressed disappointment that the Union government had “reneged” on its promise to provide its share for phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail project by delaying its approval for the project.
Contending that “unity in diversity” was under “grave threat” in the country, the speech stressed that the State vowed to take all necessary measures to never permit the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in Tamil Nadu.
