The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Almost a week after Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi refused to read his customary address and walked out of the assembly, chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M.K. Stalin hit back by saying that the governor’s act was “childish”.
Ravi’s January 6 boycott of the assembly session, on the ground that his request to play the national anthem was not met and instead the Tamil Nadu state anthem, “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” (Invocation to Mother Tamil), was sung, marked his third such protest.
Soon after the boycott, the Raj Bhavan posted on X, “The Constitution of Bharat and the National Anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. Respecting the National Anthem is among the first Fundamental Duty as enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all the state legislatures at the beginning and the end of Governor’s address. Today on arrival of Governor of the House only ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ [invocation of the Tamil Mother] was sung. Governor respectfully reminded the House of its Constitutional duty and fervently appealed to the Hon’ble Chief Minister who is the leader of the House and the Hon’ble Speaker for singing the National Anthem. However, they cussedly refused. 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.”
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On January 11 (Saturday), in his reply to the governor’s address, Stalin said that according to the established convention in the assembly, the Tami Thai Vazhthu had always been sung in the beginning and the national anthem at the end of the address. He added that the governor did not pay any heed to the convention.
“As per section 176 of the constitution, the governor should read the address prepared by the government. But he deliberately violated the rule,” Stalin said.
“The Assembly has already celebrated its centenary and is made up of the feelings of crores of people. By daring not to respect the dignity of the House and the feelings of the people and insulting the Tamil Thai Vazhthu, he (the governor) has sought to denigrate the post he is holding with political motives. The Assembly has not witnessed it in the past and should not witness it in the future,” he added.
Stalin underlined that the governor was “not able to stomach the progress made by the state.” Further, he said everyone knew about the “absurd reasons” behind Ravi’s decision to avoid reading his address. “That is why I said his act was childish.”
The Tamil Nadu chief minister underlined that the DMK has always emerged on the top “despite neglects, humiliations, and oppressions.”
“The movement sailed through the untouchability imposed on it and successfully completed its centenary. Only the DMK has the history of a social reform movement becoming a political party, which captured power six times. It will win for the seventh time. The party’s sixth term will be the foundation for its seventh term,” he added.
The bitter relationship between the state government and the governor has often attracted headlines, with Ravi’s latest protest indicating that not much has improved between the two parties. Ravi has also been accused by the state government for unnecessarily withholding or sending back important Bills.
In February 2024, he had similarly walked out of the assembly citing the same pretext, while in 2023, Ravi had refused to read out the names of revolutionary social reformer E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar), B.R. Ambedkar, former Tamil Nadu chief ministers C.N. Annadurai (Anna) and M. Karunanidhi (Kalaignar), in his address. He claimed later that the speech given to him was “propaganda” and did not contain any material that spoke about the state government’s policies or programmes.
Meanwhile, a petition was filed by advocate C.R.Jaya Sukin at the Supreme Court pleading for the immediate removal of the governor for failing to deliver his customary address in the state assembly.