Governor’s address passes off smoothly as first session of 17th T.N. Assembly begins; House to meet for three days

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Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar delivering his address to the Assembly on Thursday | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The session began at 10 a.m. with the rendition of the State song Tamil Thaai Vazhthu (Invocation of Mother Tamil), followed by the National Anthem. This was a break from House convention where the National Anthem is played only at the end of the Governor’s Address. This time, it was played towards the end, too. During the erstwhile DMK regime, the previous Governor R.N. Ravi had walked out of the House protesting, among other things, against the Speaker not heeding to his demand to play the National Anthem at the beginning of the session as well.

The Governor commenced his speech in English at 10.02 a.m. with former Chief Minister and Dravidian stalwart C.N. Annadurai’s quote, “The people are the true masters of the nation.”

His speech was divided into 57 points. During his speech, the Governor quoted the Thirukkural verse “Pirappokkum Ella Uyirkkum” and B.R. Ambedkar’s statement, “True democracy is the union of all three — equality, liberty and fraternity.” The Governor concluded his 37-minute-long address at 10.39 a.m.

Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar began reading out the Tamil version of the Governor’s address at 10.39 a.m., immediately after the Governor completed his speech. The Speaker concluded his reading at 11.10 a.m., after which the National Anthem was sung. The Governor, after greeting the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ministers, and MLAs, left the House at 11.11 a.m.

Meanwhile, some DMK members pointed out technical glitches in the gadgets placed in front of them, as they were unable to access the Governor’s address. The glitches were resolved later. The DMK MLAs participated in the Assembly proceedings by wearing black badges that said “Vaai Thiranga CM [Open your mouth, CM]”.

After the Governor’s address, a Business Advisory Committee meeting was held, during which it was decided to conduct the Assembly sess