TN Guv’s speech row: Six times Governors deviated from the official address

While DMK leaders said that the Governor has broken convention by deviating from the speech in an unprecedented instance for Tamil Nadu, a few such incidents have occurred in other states in the past.
Legislators raising slogans against TN Governor RN Ravi inside the Assembly
Legislators raising slogans against TN Governor RN Ravi inside the Assembly

The row between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government and Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi took a dramatic turn as the Assembly session commenced on Monday, January 9. While delivering the inaugural address composed by the state government, the Governor skipped some portions with which he didn‘t agree. The DMK government and the Governor have not seen eye to eye on many issues in the past and Ravi’s refusal to read certain parts of the speech was taken as a big affront. The Governor’s move was unprecedented in Tamil Nadu, but not so uncommon in other states.

While the Constitution says the Governor shall address the first session of the Assembly each year, legal experts say that such deviations from the government’s speech could not be seen as a violation of constitutional law. DMK leaders said that the Governor had broken convention by deviating from the speech and that it was unscrupulous of him to not object to the speech earlier but register his disagreement only while delivering it.

The conventions of the Governor’s address to the Legislature 

The Governor is expected to address the first Assembly session of the state every year and the first session of a new Legislature after a general election, under Articles 175 and 176 of the Constitution. The Governor’s address is prepared by the state government. It contains a review of the government’s activities and accomplishments in the previous year, its plans for the session, and policy and legislative proposals that the government plans on implementing in the coming year. It is prepared and submitted by the state government to the Governor beforehand, and it is the convention for the Governor to read it without any deviations. 

The portions of the address that Governor Ravi chose to leave out were about BR Ambedkar, Dravidian leaders, the Dravidian model of governance and the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. Speaking to TNM, lawyer and DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said that there was no specific rule or law that prohibited the Governor from skipping a part of his inaugural address but that it broke convention. 

“Not deviating from the original text of the speech is a convention that has been in vogue for a long time. These are not codified rules but just what is expected of the Governor. He does not have the discretion to change the speech,” Saravanan said. He added that the Governor had accepted the speech that was provided by the government and signed off on it, and therefore had no right to change it of his own will. However, BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan alleged that the government did not get the Raj Bhavan's approval for the speech.

According to The Hindu, in the book, Governor’s Role in the Indian Constitution, its author Sibranjan Chatterjee said that the Constituent Assembly intended that the Governor’s address be prepared by the Council of Ministers, and any violation would amount to a breach of the spirit of the Constitution. “If a Governor violates this convention and deletes any para of the address under the cloak of his discretionary power, his action may not be ‘unlawful’ from a rigid legalistic viewpoint; but this will surely strike at the roots of norms of parliamentary system of government,” Sibranjan Chatterjee wrote.

Do Governors often show their difference of opinion with the address?

Saravanan noted that this was the first time that such an incident occurred in Tamil Nadu. However, in other states, there have been a few incidents where Governors openly disagreed with the contents of the address composed by the state government.

> Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan

In 2020, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had to read out the state government’s opposition to the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) as part of his customary address. While he did not skip this portion, he paused to mention that he was only reading out the statement to honour Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's wish and that he did not agree with it.

> Former Kerala Governor P Sathasivam

In another instance from Kerala, back in 2018 when P Sathasivam was the Governor, he skipped a few parts of his address prepared by the LDF government that were critical of the Narendra Modi-led Union government. The omitted parts criticised the Union government for undermining principles of cooperative federalism and also found fault with the Goods and Services Tax (GST). While leaders from the Left parties criticised the Governor for the omission, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that he was not aware of any major omission.

> Former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy

In 2017, then Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy skipped parts of his speech drafted by the Left Front government that were critical of the BJP-led Union government, including one part which said that the communal situation in the country was tense and that minorities and Dalits were under attack amid rising intolerance. Another omitted part reportedly spoke about the difficulties people had faced due to demonetisation.

> Former West Bengal Governor Anant Prasad Sharma

In 1983-84, when Anant Prasad Sharma was the Governor of West Bengal, he reportedly differed with the Left Front government over the appointment of vice-chancellors to state universities. At the time, the West Bengal government under then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu reportedly removed a reference to the appointment of the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, after AP Sharma raised an objection.

> Former West Bengal Governor Dharma Vira

In 1969, the West Bengal Assembly witnessed another such incident when Governor Dharma Vira refused to read parts of the address prepared by the ruling United Front, which was critical of the Congress-led Union government. This was the second United Front cabinet that had been freshly constituted after midterm elections after the Governor dismissed the first United Front Cabinet in 1967. Amid protests from leaders of the ruling United Front, the Governor skipped the parts of the address that were critical of his actions. The portions that were skipped referred to the “unconstitutional dismissal of the first United Front government by the Congress-ruled central government.” Although West Bengal Chief Minister at the time Ajoy Mukherjee expressed his displeasure and insisted that Governor Dharma Vira read the full text of the address, the Governor reportedly refused to do it.

> Former Punjab Governor DC Pavate

In another incident in 1969, then Punjab Chief Minister Gurnam Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal reportedly agreed to a request from then Governor DC Pavate to remove comments from his address that were critical of the Congress-led Union government. 

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