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In a blistering response to Governor RN Ravi’s recent assembly walkout, Chief Minister MK Stalin told the Tamil Nadu House on Saturday that the Governor’s actions were an insult not just to the state, but to the dignity of the very office he holds. Replying to the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, Stalin didn't mince words, accusing Ravi of "desecrating the Constitution" by refusing to read the government-prepared speech earlier this week.

 

"I am facing a crisis that even giants like Anna, Kalaignar, MGR, and Jayalalithaa didn't have to witness," Stalin said, highlighting the unprecedented friction between the Raj Bhavan and the elected government. He specifically called out the Governor’s insistence on playing the national anthem at the start of the session, rather than at the end as per long-standing House tradition.

 

Addressing the Governor’s lecture on patriotism, Stalin was firm: "We are not inferior to anyone in national unity. We don’t need lessons on patriotism from people who weren't part of the independence struggle." He defended the practice of starting with 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' and ending with the National Anthem, a tradition the Governor has repeatedly challenged.

 

The Chief Minister also used the floor to rebut the Governor's claims of "inaccuracies" in the state’s economic data. He pointed out that the Union government's own statistics department credited Tamil Nadu with an 11.19 per cent economic growth rate— the highest in the country and the state’s first double-digit growth in 14 years. "If the Governor has questions about these figures, he should ask the Union government that sent him here," Stalin quipped, drawing loud thumping from the treasury benches.

 

Beyond these numbers, Stalin also sought to spin the Governor’s repeated walks out of meetings over the last three years as a challenge to democracy itself. Stalin said: “Any Governor of this State may have his own differences with his Chief Minister, but never will he act in a way which provokes a Constitutional face-off with his Chief Minister.” Wrapping up his address, Stalin maintained that despite these "excessive trials," his government remains focused on its development agenda, claiming that crime rates are lower under the current DMK regime than they were under the previous AIADMK rule.

 

Also read: PM Modi invokes J Jayalalithaa, targets DMK in Tamil Nadu