Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 9: Face-off between the governors and the ruling party has become a common feature in some non BJP-ruled states but it was perhaps for the first time that the governor walked-out of the Assembly in a huff after his inaugural address to the House was rejected by the ruling party and only the government-prepared address was motioned to be taken on record.
The unprecedented face-off was witnessed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday where the Governor R. N. Ravi abruptly walked out of the Legislative Assembly as Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, disapproved of his selective deviation from the approved text of the Governor’s customary address to the House, and moved a resolution to take on record only the transcript distributed to the members.
Trouble began in the New Year’s first Assembly session, after the Governor deviated from the approved text and skipped a paragraph containing references to certain national and regional stalwarts as well as the term “Dravidian Model” of governance.
Objecting to Mr. Ravi’s action, soon after Speaker M. Appavu read out the Tamil translation of the Governor’s tabled address, Mr. Stalin moved a resolution to retain on the Assembly records, only the printed and approved speech copy that was presented to members of the House earlier. He said that portions “inserted” or “omitted” by the Governor in his oral address should not be part of the records.
The paragraph number 65 skipped by Mr. Ravi read: “Following the principles and ideals of stalwarts like Thanthai Periyar, Annal Ambedkar, Perunthalaivar Kamarajar, Perarignar Anna and Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar, this government has been delivering the much acclaimed Dravidian Model of governance to its people.”
The Governor also did not read a reference to the management of the law and order situation because of which, as per the text, “Tamil Nadu continues to be a haven of peace and is attracting numerous foreign investments and is becoming a forerunner in all sectors.” He instead included, out of text, certain remarks on Swami Vivekananda and the Union Government’s actions on issues concerning Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Describing the act of the Governor as “very sad and against the tradition of the Assembly,” Mr. Stalin pointed out that he had omitted portions of “the speech prepared by the State government and approved by him (Mr. Ravi).” “We conducted ourselves in a manner to accord full respect to the Governor who came to the Assembly to deliver his address as per the Constitution. But he acted not only against our ideology, but also against the government by not reading the speech prepared by the government and approved by him,” the Chief Minister said while moving a resolution seeking to relax the Assembly Rule 17 to retain, in the House records, only the printed speech in English and its Tamil version read by the Speaker in its entirety.
The Chief Minister told the House that the Speech was prepared by the government and the printed version was distributed to the members only after the Governor gave his nod. “Though the Governor was functioning totally against the Dravidian model government and it was unacceptable to us, we did not record our opposition as we are in the government,” he added.
As Mr. Stalin was speaking, the Governor, who is not conversant in Tamil, was seen asking his secretary as to what the Chief Minister was saying in the House. Upon learning that the House was about to move the resolution, a visibly agitated Mr. Ravi quickly paced out of the Assembly hall without waiting for the proceedings to conclude. He left before the resolution was adopted and the national anthem was played. The resolution, which also sought not to take on record, certain extempore references and omissions by the Governor, was later adopted by the House.
Briefing journalists after the proceedings, Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the prepared speech was sent to the Governor on January 5 and he gave his approval on January 7. “It (Governor’s action in the House) is unacceptable because he not only deviated from the speech approved by him, but also refused to make references to the leaders including Dr. [B.R.] Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution,” he said. Mr. Thennarasu also accused the Governor of “disrespecting” the National Anthem by walking out of the House before it was played.
Allies of the ruling DMK — Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), CPI, and CPI(M) — earlier boycotted the Governor’s address, after protesting, by raising slogans, his delay in clearing Bills, including those regarding a ban on online gambling, and clipping the Governor’s powers to appoint Vice Chancellors to state universities. 21 Bills passed by the Assembly are pending with the Governor.
“Quit Tamil Nadu” slogans reverberated in the Assembly against Mr Ravi. Ruling DMK MLAs also raised slogans saying “don’t impose BJP, RSS ideology.” Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram called for the removal of the Governor, calling his position “untenable.”
The Governor and the state government have been at loggerheads, with the ruling party accusing Mr Ravi of acting on the behest of the BJP. DMK MP TR Balu had earlier slammed Mr Ravi for his state renaming suggestion, and said he should stop acting as a “second state president of BJP.” The sand-off on Monday came days after the ruling party lashed out at the Governor for suggesting that Tamizhagam was a more appropriate name for the state.
The two sides have had a fraught relationship ever since Ravi, a retired IPS officer, took charge as Governor in September 2021. Last April, the Stalin government boycotted events organised by Ravi to protest against the alleged delay on his part in clearing several Cabinet recommendations and a dozen Bills passed by the Assembly, including a crucial one seeking the abolition of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions, and the release of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
At the time, DMK mouthpiece Murasoli said in its editorial, “Seems like Governor Ravi is bent on spoiling wherever is left of the BJP’s vote base in Tamil Nadu… Instead of serving his constitutional responsibilities, Governor Ravi is playing unwarranted politics in Tamil Nadu… Looks like he has decided to play the additional role of Tamil Nadu BJP chief too.”
Ravi had retired from the IPS service in 2012. He served as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and was later Deputy National Security Advisor of India. But his most high-profile assignment has been the Centre’s interlocutor for the Naga peace talks. In August 2015, the NSCN(IM) signed a framework agreement with the Centre for the Naga Peace Accord and Ravi was appointed the interlocutor to take the talks to their conclusion. While both the government and the Naga groups said the talks successfully concluded on the government’s deadline of October 31, 2019, no accord was signed, and relations between Ravi and the NSCN(IM) unravelled. The NSCN(IM) has blamed Ravi for the talks going off track.