For 4th year, Governor Ravi walks out of Tamil Nadu Assembly without delivering inaugural address

Within just 5-10 minutes of Governor Ravi storming out of the Assembly, and even before his convoy could reach Raj Bhavan, a lengthy, sharply worded statement from his office was already out. The press release alleged that the Governor’s microphone was “repeatedly switched off” and that he was “not allowed to speak”. It claimed that the address prepared by the state government was “laced with unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements”, making it untenable for the Governor to deliver.

Almost in parallel, Chief Minister Stalin read out a resolution in the House condemning the Governor’s actions soon after the Governor left the Assembly.

Among the allegations raised in the press release from the Governor’s office were what it called inflated investment figures, questioning the claim of Rs 12 lakh crore worth of MoUs, along with ignored issues such as an alarming rise in sexual violence, drug abuse among youth, suicides, Dalit atrocities, and administrative apathy across education, local governance, temple management, and MSME sectors.

“Over 2,000 mostly youth committed suicide in one year due to drug abuse,” the statement said, adding, “Tamil Nadu is being referred to as the suicide capital of India,” and that such concerns were “casually bypassed” in the speech.

Protocol dispute

The trigger for this year’s disruption, as with previous ones, centred on the National Anthem. Governor Ravi has consistently insisted on playing it both before and after his address, a move that contradicts the Assembly’s convention since 1992, under which ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ opens the proceedings and the National Anthem is played at the end.

This insistence has repeatedly led to protocol disputes, and in recent years, to outright walkouts. In 2023, Ravi left after Stalin objected to his selective omissions from the address. In 2024, he read just the first paragraph and then exited. Last year, he cited “deep anguish” over what he described as an “insult” to the Constitution and the National Anthem.

This year, again, Raj Bhavan said, “National Anthem is yet again insulted and the fundamental constitutional duty disregarded.”

The walkout came in the presence of Opposition AIADMK members who also staged a protest, led by Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, over alleged law and order failures. As the Opposition MLAs walked out, the Speaker began reading the Tamil version of the address.

Inside the House, Speaker Appavu urged the Governor to “respect Assembly rules and conventions”, which require the Governor to read the speech approved by the Cabinet without alteration.

Governor Ravi’s tenure since September 2021 has been marked by a series of confrontations with the Stalin-led government, ranging from withholding assent to Bills, refusing to swear in MLAs, and delaying appointments of vice chancellors to state universities. In at least three cases since 2023, the state has approached the Supreme Court against the Governor’s actions or inaction.

The DMK leadership, including Stalin, has openly begun portraying Ravi as a proxy of the BJP-led Union government, aiming to position the 2026 election as a battle between Tamil Nadu and Delhi, invoking themes of federalism and Dravidian self-respect. Stalin has even made unusual requests to the Centre not to transfer Ravi, suggesting that the Governor’s presence strengthens the DMK’s ideological messaging.