Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi walks out of Assembly without reading customary address: 'Mic switched off, national anthem insulted'

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), walked out of the Legislative Assembly without delivering the customary address on the opening day of the first session of the year, a few minutes after Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu (the State anthem) was rendered.

Shortly after Mr. Ravi left, the House adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to take on record only the approved text of the Governor’s address prepared by the State government. Thereafter, Speaker M. Appavu read out the Tamil version of the same.

| Video Credit: The Hindu

Governor’s mic turned off: Lok Bhavan

However, the Lok Bhavan in a quick statement, justified Mr. Ravi’s walkout saying the prepared Governor’s Address contained “unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements” and claimed “the Governor’s mic was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak.”