Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will seek a constitutional amendment to remove the requirement of beginning the first Assembly session of the year with the governor’s customary address in states governed by Opposition parties, the state’s Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Tuesday.
Stalin made the statement in a social media post hours after Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi walked out of the Assembly without delivering the customary address on the opening day of the session. This marked the fourth consecutive year that Ravi has left the House during the inaugural proceedings.
A governor is required to address the first session of the Assembly held in a year. As per convention, the governor reads a speech written by the state government.
Later in the day, the governor’s office said that Ravi had refused to read the address because his microphone was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak. It also alleged that the speech approved by the government contained several “unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements”, adding that crucial problems troubling the residents of the state were ignored.
Following the governor’s walkout, the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Stalin, rejecting the governor’s decision not to read out the address, The Hindu reported.
The resolution stated that the speech prepared by the state government and uploaded on members’ tablets would be treated as having been read.
Stalin said that under Article 176 of the Constitution, the governor is required to read the address in full.
“There is no scope for the governor to include his personal comments or to remove parts of the speech prepared by the state government,” The Hindu quoted Stalin as having said.
He added that clarifications sought by the governor on Monday had already been provided, but that Ravi had still acted in violation of the provisions of the Constitution.
“It is regrettable that the Governor has acted like before,” Stalin was quoted as having said. “The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly reflects the sentiments of the eight crore Tamil people… [The governor] should extend cooperation to the government elected by the people. The Constitution expects the same from the individual holding the post.”
Stalin also said that such conduct was not limited to Tamil Nadu and accused Governors in several states of acting as “obstacles” to Opposition-led governments.
In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday edited the policy address delivered by Governor Rajendra Arlekar to the Assembly.
After Arlekar left the Assembly, Vijayan returned to the House and said that the governor had changed three paragraphs in the policy speech. The chief minister said that while Arlekar omitted some portions of the text, he had made certain additions elsewhere in the speech.
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