Governor RN Ravi storms out of Tamil Nadu Assembly — the National Anthem row explained

Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi walked out of the state assembly without reading his customary address over what he called ‘disrespect’ to the National Anthem and the Constitution on the first day of the winter session of the assembly.

The Constitution and the National Anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today, the Raj Bhavan said in a post on X. “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 the Governor’s address. Today, on the arrival of the Governor to the House, only Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was sung,” the post read, adding that the Governor “respectfully reminded” the House to play the national anthem, which they “cussedly refused”.

The Governor also did not deliver the customary address to the Assembly.

“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 post read.

‘Violates Constitutional practice’

Chief Minister MK Stalin reacted to the Governor’s walkout. He said the Governor has made it his custom to violate the Constitutional practice of reading out the address.

“It is childish that the governor, who has cut out what was there and added what was not, has gone without reading it this time. The Governor’s actions in continuously insulting the people of Tamil Nadu, the government elected by them, and the century-old Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly are unbecoming of the position he holds,” Stalin said in a post on X.

“Why should someone who is unwilling to perform their political and legal duties remain in office?” is the question on everyone’s mind,” Stalin asked.

On the inaugural day of its session on Monday, the Tamil Nadu assembly was rocked by slogans from the members of the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK over the alleged sexual assault of a female student inside Chennai’s Anna University campus.

Members of the ruling DMK-led INDIA bloc demanded that the governor, as the chancellor of state universities, own responsibility for lapses that led to the incident. Opposition MLAs raised counter slogans, “Who is that, sir?” demanding the ruling DMK find the other accused alleged to have connections with the main accused arrested over the case.

Amid the din, Governor Ravi urged the house to play the national anthem, following which the state anthem “Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu” was played, according to the reports. It was at this moment that Governor Ravi alleged that the assembly ‘insulted’ the national anthem and the Constitution. He left the assembly before reading his customary address.

While the sloganeering was on, the house speaker ordered the marshals to evict AIADMK members and read out the governor’s address.

This is not the first time that the Governor has walked out of the Assembly and refused to deliver the address.

In 2023, dramatic scenes played out in the Assembly when TN Ravi skipped parts of the official speech prepared by the DMK. He did not mention parts of the address that mentioned leaders such as Periyar, BR Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, and K Karunanidhi.