Governor Ravi Does It Again, Refuses to Read Address

Chennai: Storming out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly without reading the address prepared by the government, Governor R.N. Ravi repeated his act of defiance for the fourth year, charging that the National Anthem was not sung at the beginning of the session after the ‘Tamil Thaai Vazhthu’. He later levelled a slew of allegations against the government on Tuesday.

The Governor, who was welcomed with due honours by Speaker M. Appavu, started expressing his reservations over the manner in which the proceedings were progressing when he was asked to read out the customary Governor’s Address. When the Speaker intervened and requested him to read out the address, he walked out.

The Speaker explained that the tradition in the state was to start the event with the singing of ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’, the state anthem, and conclude it with the National Anthem. But Ravi said that he had pointed out that the National Anthem should be played in the beginning of the session, too, as it was done in other parts of the country.

After the Governor left, the Speaker read out the address in the House and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin moved a resolution that was passed unanimously to consider the address as having been read and include it in the House records. Stalin, regretting the Governor’s act, said that he would make efforts to bring in a Constitutional amendment to do away with the practice of Governor’s Address in the first session of the year.

Ministers issued statements denying the charges levelled by the Governor against their department activities and DMK organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi said that when the National Anthem was not played at all at a function to lay the foundation for the AIIMS at Madurai in 2019, the government had not objected.

He said Ravi was free to contest the election and enter the Assembly as an MLA, where he could express his views, but should not try to do it in the garb of the Governor. Ravi should not act like an RSS pracharak or a BJP leader, he said and denied that crimes against women, children and Dalits were on the rise. He quoted the AVTAR group report to prove his point that state was on top in women’s safety.

The PMK group led by Anbumani Ramadoss supported the Governor with its MLA Venkateswaran agreeing that the law and order situation in the state was in an abysmal state with robberies and crimes against women on the rise.

Referring to the Chief Minister moving the resolution soon after the Governor left, BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan wondered if Stalin knew that the Governor would not read out the address as he had come prepared with the resolution. The government was creating an image of a conflict between the Governor and the government, she said.

The Assembly session would go on till Saturday, January 24, and the resolution to express thanks for the Governor’s address would be taken on Thursday. On Wednesday, the House would adjourn after obituary reference. Among those who would be remembered in the Assembly are businessman Arunachalam Velliyan, poet Erode Tamilanban, film producer A.V.M. Saravanan, former Lok Sabha Speaker Sivaraj Patil and MLA K Ponnusamy.