Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi Skips Customary Address, Cites Disagreement with DMK Government's Speech

In an unprecedented move in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Governor RN Ravi skipped his customary address explaining that he could not agree with the speech written by the DMK government on "factual and moral grounds."

"If I lend my voice, it would amount to Constitutional travesty," he said in his short address. "Hence with respect to the House, I conclude my address. Wish this House a productive and healthy discussion for the people's good."

He also pointed out that despite his repeated requests, the practice of playing the national anthem at the beginning and end of the address had been ignored. Traditionally, the Tamil Nadu Assembly follows the practice of playing the State Song before and the national anthem after the address.

During his last address on January 9, 2023, he had walked out of the session after omitting a few pages of his speech. The omitted portions were later read out by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin after a resolution was passed in the Assembly.

This had lead to a major point of conflict between the two.

The Governor had omitted certain portions of the speech which included the praise on the DMK model of governance and the names of the stalwarts of the Dravidian movement that include EV Ramaswamy Periyar alias Thanthai Periyar, the ideologue of the Dravidian movement.

The fallout between Stalin and the Governor last year in the Legislative Assembly was the culmination of a long drawn battle between the two in both ideological matters as well as the Governor taking on the state government on issues one after the other. TWL Bureau with inputs from IANS