New Delhi:
Governor RN Ravi hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin for his 'childish' joke during the row over the national anthem. He said “such arrogance is not good” and warned that the country would not tolerate such a “brazen insult” to the national anthem. the Constitution.
The DMK government in Tamil Nadu and the Raj Bhavan are trading barbs after the governor walked out of the Assembly on January 6 in protest over the failure to sing the national anthem at the start of his speech.
As per tradition in the Tamli Nadu Assembly, the state song Tamil Thai Valthu is sung when the House meets and the national anthem is sung at the end. But Governor Ravi has objected to this norm and said the national anthem should be sung at both times.
Thiru @mkstalin claims that insisting on due respect for the national anthem and fulfilling fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution are “absurd” and “childish.” Thank you for betraying the true intentions of the coalition of interests and ideologies of which he is a leader who…
— RAJ BHAVAN, TAMIL NADU (@rajbhavan_tn) January 12, 2025
“Bharat Constitution and National Anthem were again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. Respecting the national anthem is one of the first fundamental duties enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all state legislatures at the beginning and end. of the Governor's speech,” the Raj Bhavan said in a statement after the Governor's strike. “Today, on the arrival of the Governor in the House, only Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was sung. The Governor respectfully reminded the House of his constitutional duty and made a fervent appeal to the Hon'ble Prime Minister, who is the Leader of the House and the Hon'ble Speaker, to sing the national anthem, however, jokingly refused. It is a matter of great concern not to be a party to such blatant disrespect for the Constitution and the national anthem. The governor left the House of Representatives in deep fear Bhavan.
Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Stalin said in a message on “Under the Constitution, it is a tradition of legislative democracy that the state governor reads the government's speech at the beginning of the year! He has made it his habit to violate it. It is childish that the governor, who took what was there and added what was not, has gone away this time without reading it,” he said, referring to passages the governor had skipped in his previous speeches in the General Assembly.
The DMK chief yesterday told the House, “The Governor comes to the Assembly but returns without addressing the House. That's why I said his actions were childish.
“I don't think the governor can come to terms with the fact that Tamil Nadu is developing. I may be an ordinary person, but this Legislative Assembly came into existence thanks to the feelings of many people,” Stalin said, adding that the Assembly “should not see such things anymore”.
The official message from Raj Bhavan posted today on Thank you for betraying the true intentions of the coalition of interests and ideologies of which he is a leader who does not accept and respect Bharat as a nation and its Constitution.
“Such arrogance is not good. Please remember that Bharat is the supreme Mother and the Constitution is the supreme faith for her children. They will not like or tolerate such blatant insults,” it added.
Governor Ravi and MK Stalin's government have shared icy ties since he took power in 2021. The DMK government has accused him of acting as a BJP spokesperson and blocking bills and appointments. The governor has said the Constitution gives him the power to withhold his assent to legislation. The dispute between the Raj Bhavan and the state government has also reached the Supreme Court and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
