Chennai: Minutes after Governor R. N. Ravi walked out of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly without delivering the customary Governor’s Address on Tuesday, Lok Bhavan issued a detailed clarification, asserting that the Governor was denied an opportunity to speak.
The clarification comes against the backdrop of escalating tensions between the Governor and DMK government, leading to a sharp confrontation on the opening day proceedings of the Assembly.
According to the statement released by Lok Bhavan, the Governor declined to read the address after his microphone was “repeatedly switched off” and he was not permitted to place his views before the House.
Describing the incident as unprecedented, Lok Bhavan said the Governor, as the constitutional head of the state, was forced to withdraw after being denied right to speak. The statement claimed that the Governor had sought to flag serious omissions and inaccuracies in the prepared address, but was prevented from doing so.
Lok Bhavan alleged that the address contained several unsubstantiated and misleading claims while ignoring issues of grave public importance. It specifically disputed government’s assertion that Tamil Nadu had attracted investments worth over ₹12 lakh crore.
According to the statement, many of the memorandum of understanding cited remained only on paper, with actual investments being only a fraction of the claimed figure. It further pointed to available data suggesting that Tamil Nadu’s ranking among the top recipients of foreign direct investment had declined in recent years.
The statement also flagged the complete omission of women’s safety concerns, despite what it described as a sharp rise in POCSO cases and incidents of sexual violence. Lok Bhavan highlighted the growing menace of narcotics and substance abuse among youth, including school students, noting that more than 2,000 suicides in a year were linked to drug addiction.
Other issues cited as being ignored in the address included rising atrocities against Dalits, a high number of suicides in the State, prolonged vacancies and alleged mismanagement in educational institutions, and the non-conduct of village panchayat elections for several years, which it said had deprived citizens of their constitutional right to grassroots democracy.
The Lok Bhavan also raised concerns over prolonged government control of thousands of temples without duly constituted trustee boards, mounting stress in the MSME sector, discontent among lower-level government employees, and what it termed repeated disregard for constitutional duties, including respect for the National Anthem.
The statement further said that these concerns reflected the ground realities and should not have been overlooked in a crucial address, meant to outline state government’s priorities.
(IANS)
