Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi storms out of the House over anthem row
Ravi walked out roughly three minutes after the House convened for the first time this year at 9:30am.
Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi on Monday walked out of Tamil Nadu assembly without reading his customary address for the second consecutive year, opposing what he described as disrespect to the national anthem and triggering a political controversy.
Ravi walked out roughly three minutes after the House convened for the first time this year at 9:30am.
Raj Bhavan said that his request to play the national anthem at the beginning of proceedings was refused so he left in “deep anguish”. But chief minister MK Stalin and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) said that the state anthem—Tamil Thaai Vazhthu—was always played at the beginning of House proceedings and the national anthem at the end.
“The Constitution of Bharat and the national anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu assembly today...It is a matter of grave concern. Not to be a party to such brazen disrespect to the Constitution and the national anthem, governor in deep anguish left the House,” the Raj Bhavan said on X.
Stalin described the governor’s action as “childish”.
“The governor’s actions are continuously insulting the people of Tamil Nadu, the government elected by them, and the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, which are unbecoming of the position he holds,” the chief minister said on X.
This is the latest in a series of confrontations between the state government and the governor, who took over in 2021 and has been embroiled in controversy since, including over not reading out customary speeches prepared by the state government and sitting on bills passed by the assembly. The governor customarily reads out a speech prepared by the state government.
In 2023, Ravi omitted portions of the speech that hailed Dravidian stalwarts such as E V Ramaswamy ‘Periyar’ and CN Annadurai, and added his own sections to the speech. He walked out after Stalin moved a resolution in the assembly that only the speech prepared by the government should be taken on record. Then, last year, the governor walked out and refused to read the speech, saying that it was misleading.
This is part of a broader pattern where some governors picked by the Centre rake up controversy with state governments controlled by the BJP’s political rivals. Cases involving such states, such as Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, are pending before the Supreme Court.
On Monday, minutes after the governor walked out, Tamil Nadu’s main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), protested over the sexual assault of a 19-year-old student inside the Anna University campus and were evicted. Following this, when speaker M Appavu was up on his feet and began reading the Governor’s speech prepared by the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party walked out in protest.
After the speaker finished reading the Tamil version of the 53-page governor’s speech that criticised the BJP-led Union government for not releasing central funds to Tamil Nadu, water resources minister Durai Murugan reacted to the governor walking out.
“The governor is acting against the Constitution,” said Murugan. “It’s not good… the governor walking out again without reading his address to the House raises about what his real intentions are.”
Later, Stalin posted on X that the governor made it customary to violate the tradition of starting the assembly with his speech. “Why should someone who is unwilling to perform their political and legal duties remain in office is the question on everyone’s mind,” he said in X.
In response, Raj Bhavan said that the governor sang the state anthem with reverence and promoted Tamil language and culture whenever possible, but it is part of the national anthem code that it is played before and after a governor’s address.
“Total censorship of the proceedings of Tamil Nadu state assembly today reminds the country of the Emergency days. The people specially the brothers and sisters of Tamil Nadu were deprived of the actual proceedings of the House and conduct of their representatives therein and instead were fed only the doctored versions of the state government. Not only the Constitution was disrespected by disregarding the fundamental duty enshrined in it with regard to the national anthem but also the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right of freedom of press was brazenly smothered. This does not augur well for the democracy,” Raj Bhavan posted on X.
DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathi said in a statement, “Governors who are quiet in BJP-ruled states are trying to run their own government in non-BJP states. The Modi government has made it a habit to block the state administration by using Governor’s office. The incident that took place in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today is a manifestation of this.”
The assembly session concludes on January 11.
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