NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan on Sunday criticised chief minister MK Stalin for calling governor RN Ravi “childish” after he staged a walkout alleging disrespect to National Anthem during opening session of the assembly.
In a strongly worded post, the Raj Bhavan called out the CM’s “arrogance” and accused him of “betraying the true intentions of the coalition of interests and ideologies.”
“Thiru MK Stalin asserts that insisting on due respect to the National Anthem and doing fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution is “absurd” and “childish”. Thanks for betraying the true intentions of the coalition of interests and ideologies to which he is a leader that does not accept and respect Bharat as a nation and Her Constitution. Such arrogance is not good. Please do not forget that Bharat is the supreme Mother and the Constitution the supreme faith for her children. They will not like or tolerate such brazen insult,” the post said.
Governor Ravi had walked out without delivering his customary address on Monday. His actions were prompted by the omission of the National Anthem during the session’s commencement, where only the Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, the state anthem, was performed.
Stalin futher said that in 2022, the governor had delivered the full annual address without alterations. However, the CM noted that over the past three years, Ravi has repeatedly avoided delivering his address, citing “absurd reasons.”
“The Governor is coming to deliver his address but leaving without addressing. That is why I said the actions of the Governor are childish. In 2022, the Governor gave his complete annual address without changing anything. But in the last 3 years, he has been avoiding delivering addresses by giving some absurd reasons, everyone in this assembly knows that,” Stalin said.
“Playing the Tamil Anthem when the Assembly session starts and playing the National Anthem when the session concludes has been followed for many years and that is the tradition also. Even after clarifying this, the Governor refused to give his speech. I think he is unable to accept the fact that Tamil Nadu is developing,” he added.
The ongoing friction between the governor and the state government has been persistent, with chief minister accusing Ravi of consistently modifying or leaving out portions of the government’s prepared speeches in past sessions.