4th walkout in 4 years: Governor R N Ravi exits Tamil Nadu assembly in 7 minutes; address unread

CHENNAI: Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Tamil Nadu Assembly without reading the customary address prepared by the State government. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Ravi has walked out of the House, each time citing different reasons.

Governor was inside the House for seven minutes, between 9.29 am and 9.36 am, and the government Governor's put out its statement in X at 10.02 am




In 2023, the Governor omitted the names of Dravidian icons Thanthai Periyar and C N Annadurai from the government-prepared address. He later walked out after Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the portions not read by the Governor would be incorporated into the Assembly records, marking Ravi’s first exit from the House.

In 2024 and 2025, Ravi walked out without delivering the customary address, alleging insult to the national anthem. He had insisted that the national anthem be played after the Tamil anthem, but this was not done as it goes against the long-standing tradition of the century-old House, prompting the Governor to leave the Assembly.

He repeated the same act this year as well. Shortly after his exit, the Governor’s office issued a statement defending his decision.

“The Governor’s microphone was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak,” the statement said, explaining why Ravi declined to read the government’s address. The Raj Bhavan also listed 12 other points in support of the Governor’s stand.