Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Governor RN Ravi, accusing him of undermining the dignity of the constitutional office by refusing to read the customary address at the opening of the Assembly session.
Responding on the floor of the House, Stalin said he was compelled to publicly criticise the Governor, noting that such a situation had not arisen during the tenures of former chief ministers CN Annadurai, M Karunanidhi, MG Ramachandran or J Jayalalithaa.
“I am facing the crisis that was not witnessed during the tenure of former Chief Ministers…,” Stalin said, adding that Ravi’s conduct amounted to “insulting the position he holds.”
The chief minister took strong exception to the Governor’s insistence that the National Anthem be played at the beginning of the session. Stalin said the established practice in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was to begin proceedings with the Tamil Thai Vazhthu, followed by the Governor’s address, and to play the National Anthem at the conclusion.
“We are not inferior to anyone in patriotism, and no one needs to teach us,” he said, asserting that the state’s traditions were being deliberately disregarded.
Stalin underlined that challenges were not new to him. “I have faced numerous challenges in the past and overcame them,” he said, while also claiming that the crime rate under the present DMK government was lower than during the previous AIADMK regime.
The remarks came against the backdrop of another constitutional flashpoint earlier this week, when Governor Ravi walked out of the Legislative Assembly without delivering the inaugural address prepared by the elected government.
The incident marked the third year in a row that the Governor declined to read the address, citing objections to both procedure and content.
According to Raj Bhavan, the immediate provocation inside the House was what the Governor described as a denial of his right to speak. In a later statement, he claimed that “the microphone was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak.”
He also objected to the sequence of events, stating that his request for the National Anthem to be played after the Tamil Anthem was rejected by Speaker Appavu, which he termed a constitutional violation.
Beyond the procedural dispute, the Governor’s note made it clear that he fundamentally disagreed with the substance of the government’s address.
Raj Bhavan accused the DMK administration of placing before the Assembly a speech filled with what it called exaggerated claims, while omitting pressing social and economic concerns.
One key area of disagreement was investment. The Governor disputed the government’s projection of massive inflows, stating that claims of investments worth over Rs 12 lakh crore were misleading and that many memoranda of understanding had not translated into actual projects.
He also alleged that Tamil Nadu was slipping in foreign direct investment rankings.
The Governor further contended that the address failed to reflect realities on the ground, including rising crime, suicides, drug abuse, governance issues, and distress among vulnerable sections. These omissions, he argued, made it impossible for him to endorse the speech by reading it in the Assembly.
In a detailed press release, Raj Bhavan listed thirteen specific reasons explaining why the Governor chose not to proceed with the address:
1. The microphone was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak.
2. The speech contains numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements, while several crucial issues troubling the people were ignored.
3. The claim that the state attracted investments of over Rs 12 lakh crore is far from the truth; many MOUs remain on paper and actual investment is only a fraction, with Tamil Nadu slipping in FDI rankings.
4. Women’s safety issues were totally ignored, despite an alarming rise of over 55% in POCSO rape cases and more than 33% increase in incidents of molestation.
5. Rampant prevalence of narcotics and drugs and a sharp rise in drug abuse among youth, including school students, was casually bypassed, even though over 2,000 mostly young people died by suicide in one year due to drug abuse.
6. Atrocities against Dalits and sexual violence against Dalit women are sharply increasing, yet this was completely bypassed.
7. Around 20,000 people died by suicide in a single year, nearly 65 every day, making Tamil Nadu “the Suicide Capital of India,” but this did not concern the government enough to find mention.
8. There is a steady decline in educational standards and widespread mismanagement, with over 50% faculty positions lying vacant for years, a crisis that was totally ignored.
9. Thousands of village panchayats are defunct as elections have not been held for years, denying crores of people their grassroots democratic rights, in violation of constitutional spirit.
10. Several thousand temples are without boards of trustees and are directly administered by the state, with court directions on restoration and preservation of ancient temples remaining unimplemented for over five years.
11. MSMEs are under severe stress due to visible and invisible costs, and despite vast potential, Tamil Nadu has only about four million MSMEs compared to over 55 million nationally, a concern not mentioned at all.
12. There is widespread discontent among lower-rung employees across sectors, who are restive and frustrated, with no indication in the speech on how their grievances would be addressed.
13. National Anthem was yet again insulted and the Fundamental Constitutional Duty was disregarded.
The standoff has once again sharpened tensions between Raj Bhavan and the DMK government, reviving debates on constitutional conventions, the balance of federal power and the limits of a Governor’s discretion in an elected Assembly.
(With inputs from PTI)
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