Relations between the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan and the Government have worsened, with Governor RN Ravi refusing to read out the customary address to the Legislative Assembly.
On the first day of this year’s Legislative Assembly session, Mr Ravi refused to read out in full, the Governor’s address that was tabled before the members of the House. The Raj Bhavan said the Governor had felt that reading it would have amounted to making the Governor’s address a constitutional travesty. At one point the Governor also walked out of the House.
This is the first time a Governor has refused to read out the Governor’s address in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Last year, Mr Ravi had stoked a similar controversy when he skipped certain portions of the prepared text, digressed from the content and incorporated his own views.
Just like last year, the House adopted a resolution urging the Speaker to take on record only the approved text that was placed before the members of the Assembly and not anything else.
What is the Governor’s address? Can a Governor read out a truncated version of the address? What about the conduct of the TN Assembly Speaker M. Appavu in dealing with this controversy?
Presentation: D. Suresh Kumar
Videography: Thamodharan B.
Production: Shibu Narayan
