DMK protests Governor’s walkout from Tamil Nadu Assembly

The DMK dispensation and Appavu maintained that the custom followed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was that Tamil Thai Vaazthu (State Anthem) and the National Anthem will be played before and after the Governor’s speech.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday held demonstrations in all district headquarters in the state in protest against Governor R N Ravi’s actions of continuing to “insult” the state Anthem and interfering with the “rights of the state.”

The protest comes a day after the Governor, for the second straight year, walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly without reading the customary address by blaming Speaker M Appavu and Chief Minister M K Stalin for not heeding to his request of playing the National Anthem at the beginning and end of his speech.

However, the DMK dispensation and Appavu maintained that the custom followed in Tamil Nadu Assembly was that Tamil Thai Vaazthu (State Anthem) and the National Anthem will be played before and after the Governor’s speech. They also asserted that the long-held convention cannot be changed, which prompted the Governor to walk out of the House.

In Chennai, DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi, Central Chennai MP Dayanidhi Maran, and senior DMK functionaries held a protest in Saidapet and shouted slogans against the Governor. The protesters held placards that read, “Governor Ravi, Leave Tamil Nadu” even as speakers highlighted the Governor’s insistence on opening fronts with the state government on a regular basis.

“Governor has hit a hattrick. The Governor is like school students who give silly excuses to their mothers to bunk exams. You send a leave letter from your house (Raj Bhavan) and the Chief Minister (M K Stalin) will accept it. Why do you have to come all the way from the Raj Bhavan to the Assembly and leave mid-way?” Kanimozhi asked.

Kanimozhi, who asked the Governor whether he came to Tamil Nadu without understanding the state’s politics, said the Assembly had always played the state Anthem at the beginning of the Governor’s address.

“We don’t insult the National Anthem. It has its own place after the Tamil Thai Vaazthu is sung. I don’t understand why you (Ravi) talk about the National Anthem. What is the connection between you (read RSS) and the country’s independence?” she asked.

Demonstrations were held in all 39 district headquarters across the state with senior DMK functionaries in attendance. DMK district units in Chennai also pasted wall posters across the city that accused the “AIADMK-BJP secret alliance” of trying to protect the Governor. “#GetOutRavi,” the posters read.

In a statement, DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi said it was nothing but politics that the Governor’s attempt to break the age-old tradition in the Assembly. “If the Governor does not know the traditions, let him please ask Banwarilal Purohit (his predecessor). It is because of such incidents that some non-BJP ruled states don’t even invite the Governors for address in the Assembly,” he added.