By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday January 20 has once again created controversy by walking out of Tamil Nadu Vidhan Sabha, third year in a row, alleging disrespect of the National Anthem of India, while his conduct itself is a disrespect of the tradition of the House where the state anthem “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” is sung when the House meets and the National Anthem is sung at the end. He walked out without reading the customary address prepared by the state government and cited not playing of the National Anthem along with the State Anthem and 12 other reasons for doing so. It prompted Chief Minister M K Stalin to assert that he will work with “like-mined” parties to amend the Constitution of India to do away with the practice of customary address by the Governor at the beginning of the first session of Legislative Assemblies every year.
The high drama that the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu witnessed smacks politics, since Tamil Nadu is going to polls in April-May 2026. DMK led INDIA bloc in the state is hoping to return to power, while BJP led NDA is trying its best to gain as much seats as it will be possible for them. BJP has made significant inroads in the state and promoting its own brand of Hindutva-Nationalism, which Governor RN Ravi has been deliberately promoting ever since he has assumed the office on September 18, 2021. Governor Ravi has been picking up unnecessary quarrels with the state government since then, on the one or the other pretext.
His stand on the National Anthem is that it should be sung before and after his address. Traditionally, State Anthem is sung when the House meets and National Anthem is sung at the end, and this has never been considered anti-national, since it is not. Neither it is disrespect of the National Anthem as Governor R N Ravi would like us to believe. Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly respects both the State and the National Anthem by singing both – respectively in the beginning and the end. Governor Ravi thinks that it is his constitutional duty to change the tradition of the House, by alleging disrespect of the National Anthem.“The national anthem is yet again insulted and the fundamental constitutional duty disregarded,” the statement added.
After the Governor’s walkout from the Legislative Assembly, the Lok Bhavan issued a three-page statement. It was alleged that the Governor’s microphone was switched off repeatedly and he was not allowed to speak. For not reading the speech prepared by the DMK led government, the statement said that the address contained numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements.
This conduct of the Governor also smacks of politics on behalf of the BJP led Centre. Since everybody knows that the governor is supposed to read the speech written by the government, and he has no business to interfere. A governor is not there to do politics in a state. His playing politics just before election is obvious from his own statement – “Several crucial issues troubling the people are ignored… There is widespread discontentment among lower rung employees in almost all sectors. They are restive and frustrated. No mention of ways to address their genuine grievances.”
The statement of the Governor House said that investment data show that Tamil Nadu is becoming less attractive for investors, women safety issue is totally ignored though there is alarming increase of over 55 per cent incidents of POCSO rapes and over 33 per cent increase in incidents of sexual molestation of women, and rampant prevalence of narcotics and drugs.
Nevertheless, the leader of the House, CM Stalin moved a resolution in the House to deem as “read” the address prepared by his government, while Speaker of the House M Appavu read the Tamil version of the entire address. A government has right to say about their achievement and prepare the address of the Governor. Stalin accused the Governor of defaming the state government in his speeches at various events in the past adding, “The Governor has insulted the House and has gone against the tradition.”
It is worth noting that Governor Ravi read the speech prepared by the state government only once in 2022. In 2023, he skipped certain portion and added his own words in the speech. Thereafter, he has been walking out of the Tamil Nadu Legislative assembly every year since 2024.
Governor R N Ravi is also known for sitting over the Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislature. In the landmark judgment on April 8, 2025, in the State of Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu case, a Supreme Court Bench had set a timeline for 3 months for the President on Bills sent by Governors to act as per the Article 201 of the Constitution of India. The Bench had also set a timeline for Governor’s action on Bills under Article 200. The Bench held that Governors and President cannot exercise “absolute veto” by indefinitely sitting over the Bills. After the decision the bills, which Governor Ravi had blocked, were deemed approved, and became law in the state.
It should also be noted that in the BJP’s propaganda, ruling DMK and INDIA bloc parties including Congress, are indirectly and directly portrayed as anti-national. Governor R N Ravi’s hyper nationalism alleging that National Anthem is disrespected in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly suits the hyper-nationalism of BJP especially before the Legislative Assembly election.
Governor Ravi have been controversial. That is why when he was appointed as the Governor of the state, state INC leadership and VCK raised their fingers on his appointment in 2021 claiming that there were ulterior motives of the ruling BJP at the Centre. Because of courtesy, DMK has welcomed him but had reservations.
Soon after his resuming power he has made a remission plea for Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan, in which the Supreme Court of India had said in April 2022 that such a move strikes at the “very roots” of the country’s “federal structure”.
In January 2023, Governor Ravi had alleged that the ruling political party (DMK) had been regressive in the past fifty years, and also suggested that more appropriate name for Tamil Nadu would be “Tamilagam”. His statement was criticized by the ruling DMK and its allies, while it was welcomed by BJP and their allies, which was a sure sign of playing politics. (IPA Service)
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