TN Assembly to convene tomorrow, uncertainty over Governor's address

Chennai, Jan 19 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will convene on Tuesday amid a tense political atmosphere, with attention firmly centred on whether Governor R. N. Ravi will deliver the customary address in full.

As per established convention, the first sitting of every Assembly session begins with the Governor's address outlining the policies, programmes and achievements of the elected government.

Accordingly, the first sitting of this year's Assembly session is scheduled to begin at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Governor Ravi is expected to leave the Raj Bhavan at 9.10 a.m. and arrive at the Secretariat at around 9.25 a.m. He will be received with ceremonial honours, including a police parade accompanied by band music.

On his arrival, Assembly Speaker M. Appavu will formally welcome the Governor by presenting a shawl and a bouquet. Inside the Assembly Hall, the Governor will proceed to the Speaker's chair.

Seating arrangements have been made with the Speaker positioned to the Governor’s right and the Governor’s Secretary seated to his left.

The proceedings will begin exactly at 9.30 a.m. with the rendition of 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu', following which the Governor is scheduled to commence his address.

Traditionally, the Governor's address reflects the vision, policies, welfare initiatives and administrative achievements of the Tamil Nadu government.

After the Governor completes his speech in English, the Speaker will read out the Tamil version. With this, the day's sitting will conclude. Subsequently, a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee will be held to decide the number of days to be allotted for the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.

The Assembly session is likely to continue until Friday, January 23. However, uncertainty hangs over tomorrow’s proceedings due to repeated confrontations between the Governor and the State government in recent years.

Appointed as Governor in September 2021, Ravi delivered his first Assembly address in full only in 2022. Relations between Raj Bhavan and the ruling DMK government have since steadily deteriorated.

In 2023, the Governor omitted several references in his address, including those relating to women’s progress, secularism, self-respect, Periyar, B.R. Ambedkar and former Chief Minister Karunanidhi.

When Chief Minister M. K. Stalin asserted on the floor of the House that the omitted portions would remain part of the official address, the Governor walked out midway.

In 2024, Ravi declined to read the address altogether, citing the absence of the National Anthem after the Tamil anthem.

The Speaker then read out the full address in Tamil and ensured it was recorded in the Assembly minutes. A similar episode occurred on January 6, 2025, when the Governor again exited the House on the same grounds.

Against this backdrop, whether Governor Ravi will properly deliver the address when the Assembly convenes tomorrow remains a key political question.