DMK will seek constitutional amendment to drop Governor’s assembly address, says MK Stalin after RN Ravi walks out again

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin on Tuesday said his party would make efforts to amend the Constitution to omit provisions mandating Governor's Address to the state legislature at the beginning of the year.

Stalin's comments came in response to Governor RN Ravi earlier declining to read the state government prepared text in the Assembly. The Governor's office, the Lok Bhavan claimed there were "inaccuracies" in the address. Governor Ravi walked out of the House without delivering the customary address.

Speaking in the Assembly later, Chief Minister Stalin said it was not good that the Governor refuses every year to read out the government prepared speech. Governors posing trouble happens in several states and it does not happen only in Tamil Nadu, he said in an apparent reference to non-BJP ruled states. This was the fourth such walkout in a row by Ravi ever since he assumed office in 2021

At the beginning of the year, Governor reading out the government's policy statement is a practice being followed. When a governor repeatedly violates such a practice, a question naturally arises "as to why such a rule/practice should exist," Stalin said.

Hence, the chief minister said, the DMK would make efforts in the Parliament with the support of like-minded parties to drop from the Constitution, by way of an amendment, provisions mandating the governor's address at the start of the year.

Later in a social media post, the DMK chief said: "Let us demand a Constitutional amendment that Governor's Address is unnecessary." He added that it is for the sake of all the states ruled by the opposition parties in the country.

The four-year achievements of the Dravidian model government cannot be hidden from the people who have benefited from them just because the Governor leaves the House without reading the government-prepared address, he said.

On Monday, an English daily, in its editorial referred to the Tamil Nadu Governor as "recalcitrant" for "disrespecting the Constitution and the democratically elected government," and Ravi's actions today have proven that, the chief minister alleged.

While the Assembly, immediately after Ravi walked out of the House, adopted a resolution moved by CM Stalin stating that only the government prepared customary address would go on official record, the Lok Bhavan quickly released a statement claiming to give an explanation to what transpired inside the House.

The governor's office alleged national anthem was yet again "insulted" and the fundamental Constitutional duty of respecting it was disregarded. Several crucial issues troubling the people were ignored.

While Ravi had been demanding that the national anthem be played at the commencement of the customary address, the government's stand is that the Tamil anthem is traditionally played at the beginning and the national anthem at the end.

Minutes after Ravi walked out of the 234-member House without delivering his address, the Lok Bhavan issued a 13-point explainer on why Ravi "declined" to read out the address. It alleged the Governor's mic "was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak."

"The speech contains numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements. Several crucial issues troubling the people are ignored," it said. The Lok Bhavan alleged that the Tamil Nadu government's "claim that the state attracted huge investments to the tune of over (Rs) 12 lakh crores is far from the truth."

(With agency inputs)