Expressing solidarity with his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday condemned the recent actions of governors in Opposition-ruled states. Stalin charged governors were " behaving like party agents, undermining duly elected state governments."
Stalin slammed the recent actions of governors in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka during the customary address in the beginning of the year. The key leader from the Opposition bloc condemned the governors' actions, refusing to read the speech prepared by state governments.
"As I stated earlier, the only solution now is to end the practice of commencing the first annual Assembly session with the #Governor’s address. #DMK will consult like-minded opposition parties across India and pursue a constitutional amendment in the very next parliamentary session to abolish this obsolete and irrelevant practice," he stressed in a post on X.
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On Thursday, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot spoke just two lines—which included greeting the chief minister, speaker, and others—and then walked out without reading the remainder of the speech prepared by the state government. Governor Gehlot was allegedly put off by "11 paragraphs" in the speech that were allegedly critical of the Centre and its policies. The governor was reportedly refused to read paragraphs criticising the recent repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in favour of the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or 'VB-G RAM G' for short.
Condemning governor's action, Siddaramaiah said Gehlot has violated the Constitution. "Under Articles 176 and 163 of the Constitution, the Governor is bound to read the address prepared by the Council of Ministers and has no authority to substitute it with a speech of his own," the chief minister said.
Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi walked out of the state assembly, allegedly over criticisms against the Centre in the speech. In Kerala, Governor Rajendra Arlekar altered the cabinet-approved speech and made certain additions and deletions to it.
