The face-off between the ruling DMK and the Raj Bhavan in Tamil Nadu hit a new low on Monday with the government accusing Governor R.N. Ravi of skipping a few references during his address to the state Assembly, prompting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to move a motion to reject the deviations, while Ravi staged perhaps an unprecedented walkout.
The high drama on the floor of the House soon snowballed into a heated debate online between the supporters and critics of the ruling DMK, even as “#GetOutRavi” was trending on Twitter, with many calling for the ouster of Ravi from the gubernatorial post.
However, the state BJP threw its weight behind Ravi, describing “disrespectful and amateurish” Stalin moving a resolution against the Governor whilst Ravi was still seated in the House.
The DMK-dominated House had convened for the first session of the year with the Governor’s customary address to the members, which the main opposition AIADMK dubbed as a “disappointment,” and said it was “indecent” on the part of the CM to have “spoken” when the Governor was seated, alluding to the resolution moved by Stalin.
Earlier, Ravi began his address amid slogan shouting against him by MLAs belonging to allies of the ruling DMK. As soon as he began his address in Tamil, greeting members on the New Year and the harvest festival ‘Pongal,’ legislators raised slogans including ‘Tamil Nadu Vazhgave’ (Long live Tamil Nadu) and ‘Engal Nadu Tamil Nadu’ (Our land is Tamil Nadu). The slogans later ceased.
Ravi made a reference to Swami Vivekananda, much to the indignance of the treasury benches, skipping certain portions from his customary speech. He omitted the names of Dravidian stalwarts including the late E.V. Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ and C.N. Annadurai.
From the commencement of his speech, the Governor encountered opposition from the DMK’s allies, which attempted to disrupt his speech by rushing to the well of the House and raising slogans against him. But, an unruffled Ravi continued his speech, sticking to major portions of the text on the initiatives of the State government, especially the “Illam Thedi Kalvi” and “Makkalai thedi maruthuvam,” in the Education and Health sectors.
After the Governor’s speech was read out in Tamil by Speaker M. Appavu, the Chief Minister stood up and moved a resolution against Ravi seeking to reject the deviation that he made and to declare as valid only the prepared text of the Governor’s address tabled in the House. Before Stalin could conclude his remarks, Ravi got up and walked out of the House, before the national anthem was played to signify the conclusion of the day’s proceedings. Speaker Appavu expressed regret that the Governor had skipped the names of iconic leaders.
