TN Speaker refutes Governor’s charge of repeated switching off his mike in the House

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu on Tuesday denied the charge levelled by the Lok Bhavan that the Governor’s mike was repeatedly switched off in the House.

This was the first among the 13 reasons cited by the Lok Bhavan for Governor RN Ravi to stage a walkout from the Assembly. Denying this at an interaction with the media, Appavu said, “When the Speaker addresses the House, the mike of all those in the House will be silenced. It is a convention. I just told him to perform his duty.”

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“The Governor is not a politician to criticise the government. He is free to do so by joining a political party after vacating the Lok Bhavan,” he said, adding that he was invited to the House to deliver the address, prepared by the state government.

Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who led his party colleagues and those from the BJP, and AIADMK in a walkout soon after the Governor walk out, wondered how the chief minister could have come with a prepared text for moving a resolution condemning RN Ravi for his boycott of the House. “How did the chief minister know in advance that the Governor would not read out the address and come prepared with a text for a resolution. It is a predetermined one to target the Governor. Further, no other interpolation should be made in the Governor’s address. But, the chief minister’s remarks have also been entered into the record along with that. This is a violation of established norms,” he said.

Also, the clarification from the Lok Bhavan on the Governor’s conduct in the House was also posted on ‘X’ within a short while of Ravi’s walkout, which has raised questions as to whether that too was a predetermined one.