Editor's Pick: T.N. Governor walks out as CM flags deviation from speech

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday witnessed an unprecedented manifestation of the fractured ties between the DMK regime and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi. The Governor on Monday abruptly walked out of the Assembly when Chief Minister M.K. Stalin stood up to flag the deviations made by him to the customary speech prepared for the Governor by the State government. The House then moved a resolution to take on record only the transcript of the speech distributed to the members and not the one in which some omissions were made by Mr. Ravi. Mr. Ravi, while addressing the Assembly, opening the year’s first session, skipped a paragraph in the speech containing references to national and regional stalwarts and the term “Dravidian model of governance”. The Governor also did not read a reference to the management of the law-and-order situation that said, “Tamil Nadu continues to be a haven of peace and is attracting numerous foreign investments and is becoming a forerunner in all sectors”. During the proceedings, senior Ministers of the DMK were keenly following the Governor’s address on their tablets, and at one point, the Leader of the House Duraimurugan was seen walking up to the Chief Minister’s seat for a chat and stepping out briefly. A resolution was then prepared in real-time by the ruling party, when the Speaker of the House, M. Appavu, as per convention, was reading the Tamil version of the speech. As the Chief Minister rose up to read the resolution after the Speaker’s Tamil address, Mr. Ravi, who is not conversant in Tamil, realised that something unusual was happening, and was seen enquiring with his Secretary about what Mr. Stalin was saying. On being told about the resolution to take on record only the full printed speech, the Governor rose from his seat and left the Assembly hall in a hurry, even as the Chief Minister was moving the resolution. Describing the act of the Governor as “very sad and against the tradition of the Assembly”, Mr. Stalin pointed out that he omitted portions of “the speech prepared by the State government and approved by him [Mr. Ravi]”. While such confrontations between Mr. Ravi and the elected government of Tamil Nadu have not been infrequent since he took over as Governor in 2021, skipping certain portions of the text of his customary address to the Assembly can be called the first of its kind in the State. Before this, MPs of the DMK government in November last year presented a memorandum against Mr. Ravi to President Droupadi Murmu. The memorandum slammed the Governor’s way of functioning, “openly contradicting its [Tamil Nadu government’s] policy in public and unduly delaying assent to Bills”, and some public statements made by him. In an account of 20 Bills passed by the State Assembly and pending with the Governor, the memorandum also flagged Mr. Ravi’s approach towards the T.N. Admission to UG Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021, also called NEET [National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test] exemption Bill, which is now awaiting presidential assent. While it is perfectly legitimate to have contrarian views in a democratic set-up, the federal structure of Indian governance, as this November 2022 editorial in The Hindu points out, requires a constitutional authority like the Governor to conduct himself or herself in a manner that adheres to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Besides, ties between the institution of the Governor and the State government rest and flourish on understanding and mutual respect, otherwise, what ultimately stands to get undermined is governance. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor’s Pick and more. Click here. The Hindu’s Editorials Time to count: On government’s delay in conducting census Glimmer of hope: on the rights of same-sex couples The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Which city is hosting the ongoing 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention? Jaisalmer Guwahati Indore Cuttack To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 10 JANUARY 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( T.N. Governor walks out as CM flags deviation from speech The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday witnessed an unprecedented manifestation of the fractured ties between the DMK regime and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi. [The Governor on Monday]( abruptly walked out of the Assembly when Chief Minister M.K. Stalin stood up to flag the deviations made by him to the customary speech prepared for the Governor by the State government. The House then moved a resolution to take on record only the transcript of the speech distributed to the members and not the one in which some omissions were made by Mr. Ravi. Mr. Ravi, while addressing the Assembly, opening the year’s first session, [skipped a paragraph]( in the speech containing references to national and regional stalwarts and the term “Dravidian model of governance”. The Governor also did not read a reference to the management of the law-and-order situation that said, “Tamil Nadu continues to be a haven of peace and is attracting numerous foreign investments and is becoming a forerunner in all sectors”. During the proceedings, senior Ministers of the DMK were keenly following the Governor’s address on their tablets, and at one point, the Leader of the House Duraimurugan was seen walking up to the Chief Minister’s seat for a chat and stepping out briefly. A resolution was then prepared in real-time by the ruling party, when the Speaker of the House, M. Appavu, as per convention, was reading the Tamil version of the speech. As the Chief Minister rose up to read the resolution after the Speaker’s Tamil address, Mr. Ravi, who is not conversant in Tamil, realised that something unusual was happening, and was seen enquiring with his Secretary about what Mr. Stalin was saying. On being told about the resolution to take on record only the full printed speech, the Governor rose from his seat and left the Assembly hall in a hurry, even as the Chief Minister was moving the resolution. Describing the act of the Governor as “very sad and against the tradition of the Assembly”, Mr. Stalin pointed out that he omitted portions of “the speech prepared by the State government and approved by him [Mr. Ravi]”. While such confrontations between Mr. Ravi and the elected government of Tamil Nadu have not been infrequent since he took over as Governor in 2021, skipping certain portions of the text of his customary address to the Assembly can be called [the first of its kind]( in the State. Before this, MPs of the DMK government in November last year presented a memorandum against Mr. Ravi to President Droupadi Murmu. The memorandum slammed the Governor’s way of functioning, “openly contradicting its [Tamil Nadu government’s] policy in public and unduly delaying assent to Bills”, and some public statements made by him. In an account of 20 Bills passed by the State Assembly and pending with the Governor, the memorandum also flagged Mr. Ravi’s approach towards the T.N. Admission to UG Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021, also called NEET [National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test] exemption Bill, which is now awaiting presidential assent. While it is perfectly legitimate to have contrarian views in a democratic set-up, the federal structure of Indian governance, as this[November 2022 editorial]( in The Hindu points out, requires a constitutional authority like the Governor to conduct himself or herself in a manner that adheres to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Besides, ties between the institution of the Governor and the State government rest and flourish on understanding and mutual respect, otherwise, what ultimately stands to get undermined is governance. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor’s Pick and more. [Click here]( . The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Time to count: On government’s delay in conducting census]( [Arrow][Glimmer of hope: on the rights of same-sex couples]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Which city is hosting the ongoing 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention? - Jaisalmer - Guwahati - Indore - Cuttack To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. Interested in daily updates from Tamil Nadu? 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