TN governor walks out of Assembly for fourth year; it's an insult, says Stalin

Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi on Tuesday walked out of the Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House in its maiden session of the year.

This was the fourth consecutive year that Ravi walked out of the House, once again highlighting the strained relations between the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor’s office.

A statement issued by Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan) alleged there were "inaccuracies" in the text prepared by the DMK government. It also alleged that “the Governor’s mic was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak”. Later, Speaker M. Appavu read out the Tamil version of the governor’s address.

Chief minister M.K. Stalin slammed the governor for "walking out yet again in violation of rules, traditions and ethos”, and said it was unbecoming of the high office he holds and an insult to the House and its dignity.

Stalin then moved a resolution which said the House does not accept the governor's behaviour of not reading out the customary address and only the prepared text read out by the speaker would go on record.

Stalin said it is not good that the governor refuses every year to read out the speech prepared by the government. The practice of the governor reading out the government's policy statement at the start of the year is being followed. When a governor repeatedly violates such a practice, a question naturally arises "as to why such a rule/practice should exist".

The chief minister said the DMK would make efforts in Parliament with the support of like-minded parties to drop provisions mandating the governor's address at the start of the year from the Constitution by way of an amendment.

According to Article 176 of the Constitution, he said, the customary address is prepared by the state government and it should be fully read out by the governor.

Stalin said that on 10 April 2023, he had recalled DMK founder C.N. Annadurai's statement that "neither does a goat require a beard, nor does a state require a governor".

As Ravi left the House, MLAs belonging to the ruling party and its allies stood up and raised their voice and nothing could be heard in the din.

Later, when the speaker started reading out the Tamil version of the governor’s address, AIADMK MLAs led by leader of opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami raised slogans and staged a walk out, alleging breakdown of law and order in Tamil Nadu.

This is part of a series of confrontations in recent years:

· In 2023, the governor walked out after Stalin opposed his selective reading of the address.

· In 2024, he read only the first paragraph before walking out.

· In 2025, he again left without reading the address, citing disrespect to the Constitution and national anthem as reasons.