Tamil Nadu: Congress MP raps governor for skipping assembly address

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Tuesday strongly criticised Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi after he walked out of the state assembly without delivering his customary address, saying the state would not accept any erosion of its democratic institutions and accusing the governor of “misusing” a constitutional office.

Governor Ravi exited the House during the maiden session of the year, alleging “inaccuracies” in the prepared text of the address drafted by the DMK government. The move triggered sharp reactions from the ruling party and the Opposition.

Chief minister M.K. Stalin condemned the governor’s action, calling it a violation of established tradition and constitutional ethos. He later moved a resolution in the assembly stating that the English version of the governor’s address would be deemed to have been read.

Reacting to the episode, Tagore questioned the governor’s repeated refusal to adhere to constitutional norms. “Why does governor Ravi repeatedly refuse to follow the Constitution of India? Once again, he has acted in a manner that undermines and insults the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly — a democratically elected body of the people,” the Congress MP said in a post on social media.

Tagore stressed that the Constitution clearly defines the governor as a constitutional head rather than a parallel authority. Citing Article 163, he said the governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the elected state government.

“Reading out personal opinions, selectively altering the assembly address, or withholding assent indefinitely is not constitutional discretion — it is constitutional defiance,” he said.

Emphasising the representative nature of the assembly, Tagore said disrespecting the House amounted to disrespecting democracy and federalism. He also cited Supreme Court rulings, including S.R. Bommai and Nabam Rebia, which underline the need for governors to act with neutrality, restraint and constitutional morality.

“Tamil Nadu will not accept the erosion of its democratic institutions,” Tagore asserted, adding that the governor must either uphold the Constitution or stop using his office to create confrontation.

With PTI inputs