On January 20, Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi declined to deliver the Governor’s customary address on the first day of the assembly session and walked out of the assembly. Though the DMK functionaries in the government, and the speaker tried to claim that only the elected MLAs can express opinions in the House, and “nobody else”, the Governor’s office issued a press release, highlighting how the DMK representatives made it impossible for him to deliver the speech.
The incident has once again laid bare the rift between the Lok Bhavan and the House.
In a press release, the Lok Bhavan, that is the Governor’s office, highlighted 13 reasons why the Governor had to walk out of the assembly without delivering the customary address.
Reasons why Governor declined reading the Govt speech in the Assembly:
1- Governorโs Mike was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak;
2- The speech contains numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements. Several crucial issues troubling the peopleโฆ pic.twitter.com/EebC7wDJHg— LOK BHAVAN, TAMIL NADU (@lokbhavan_tn) January 20, 2026
- Governorโs Mike was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak.
- The speech contains numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements. Several crucial issues troubling the people are ignored.
- Claim that the state attracted huge investments to the tune of over 12 lakh crores is far from the truth. Many of the MOUs with prospective investors remain only on paper. Actual investment is hardly a fraction of it. Investment data show that Tamil Nadu is becoming less attractive for investors. Until four years ago Tamil Nadu, among the states, was the fourth largest recipient of foreign direct investment. Today it is struggling to remain at the Sixth.
- Women’s safety issue is totally ignored, though there is an alarming increase of over 55% incidents of POCSO Rapes and over 33% increase in incidents of sexual molestation of women.
- Rampant prevalence of Narcotics and Drugs and a sharp increase in Drug abuse cases among youth, including school students, is a very serious concern. Over 2000 (two thousand) mostly youth committed suicide in one year due to drug abuse. It is seriously jeopardising our future. The governorโs office stated that the address made no mention of the issue.
- Atrocities against Dalits and sexual violence against Dalit women is sharply increasing. However, it is totally bypassed.
- About 20,000 (Twenty thousand) people in our state committed suicide in one year- almost 65 suicides everyday. Nowhere else in the country is the situation so alarming. Tamil Nadu is being referred to as the Suicide Capital of India. Yet it does not seem to concern the government. It is bypassed.
- There is a steady decline in standards of education and widespread mismanagement in educational institutions, adversely affecting the future of our youth. More than 50 % faculty positions have been vacant for years, and guest faculty are restive all over. Our youth are staring at an uncertain future. It does not seem to bother the government, and the issue is totally bypassed.
- Several thousand Village Panchayats are defunct because elections have not been held for years. They are directly under special officers of the government. Crores of people are denied of their rights of grassroots democracy. This is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution. People are anxiously waiting for restoration of Village Panchayats. However, this does not find even a mention in the speech.
- Several thousand temples in the state are without Board of Trustees and are directly administered by the state government. Millions and millions of devotees are deeply hurt and frustrated with the mismanagement of temples. Crucial directions of the Honโble Madras High Court on the restoration and preservation of ancient temples have not implemented even after 5 years. Sentiments of devotees were callously ignored.
- MSME sectors are under huge stress due to visible and invisible costs of running the industry. They are the crucial sector for employment and growth. However, despite over 55 million registered MSMEs in the country, Tamil Nadu has only about 4 million despite enormous potential for growth. Entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu are forced to locate their enterprises in other states. The issue is completely ignored.
- There is widespread discontent among lower-rung employees in almost all sectors. They are restive and frustrated. No mention of ways to address their genuine grievances.
- The National Anthem is yet again insulted, and the Fundamental Constitutional Duty is disregarded.
The clash between the TN Governor and the DMK government in the state has been ongoing for years. Disrespect to the national anthem is an issue the Governor has raised multiple times.
It is notable here that in 2025 and 2024 too, Governor Ravi had walked out of the assembly and declined to read the customary address after highlighting that his repeated requests to the state government not to disrespect the national anthem had been ignored.
