R N Ravi, governor of Tamil Nadu: Act of omission that stoked controversy

On January 9, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walked out of the state Assembly, possibly the first time a governor has done so. An Assembly session traditionally begins after the governor has addressed it on the first day of the first session in a calendar year. The governor does not write the speech, only vets it – the speech is written by the state government.

On this occasion, the state government’s ire was fanned by the fact that while reading the address, the governor simply omitted chunks of the speech, including references to the Dravidian movement and the names