Tamil Nadu Speaker condemns Governor for insulting people

Chennai: Asserting that the Governor doesn’t have any rights to make demands that the National Anthem should be sung at the beginning and end of his address to the House, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu on Wednesday said the Constitution mandates the Governor to read the text prepared by the Government of the day.

Speaking in the Assembly on Wednesday, Appavu also referred to the Privileges Committee the complaints against legislators from opposition parties like the AIADMK that they brought placards inside the House and deliberately disrupted the Governor for delivering his speech.

The Speaker said the House condemns the social media posts of Governor Ravi, who walked out of the Assembly without reading the customary address, which amount to “insulting” the people of Tamil Nadu and the legislators elected by them.

“There was no need for the Governor to take such a stand. According to 176 (1) of the Constitution, the duty of the Governor is to read the text prepared by the Government of the day. He doesn’t have any rights to demand that the National Anthem should be played first. The Governor should act according to the Constitution and not make demands,” Appavu said.

Dwelling into allegations that crew members of Doordarshan and All India Radio were threatened by officials from the Information Department, the Speaker said they were not allowed inside the Assembly premises for want of valid documents to gain entry.

The Speaker also alleged that Doordarshan refused to live telecast the proceedings of the Assembly in October 2022 and January 2023 citing “VVIP coverage” and that was the reason the PSU was not given permission to live telecast the Governor’s address on January 6.

“However, the DD and AIR crew set up their equipment inside the assembly without due permission. From what I heard, DD and AIR use the footage to edit according to their convenience and spread the videos on social media. They came without securing prior permission,” the Speaker added.