CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu on Tuesday said the dignity of the State and the Assembly was protected by not allowing the Governor to speak beyond the subject mentioned in the customary address.
Addressing reporters after the Business Advisory Committee meeting, which finalised the schedule for the Assembly session, the Speaker said the Governor was accorded full respect and invited to the House with due protocol. "The Governor was invited with a red carpet. There was no disrespect shown to him," he said.
Rejecting the Governor’s allegation that the microphone was switched off when he attempted to speak, Appavu said it functioned properly while the Governor was reading the address. "We repeatedly appealed to him to read out the speech prepared by the government," he said.
He alleged that the gubernatorial head had exceeded the constitutional limits of the office. "Given the situation, I had to stand up and speak. When my microphone was on, others were turned off as per protocol. I did not use any unparliamentary words against the Governor," Appavu clarified.
Explaining his intervention, the Speaker said he stepped in only when the Governor deviated from the customary address approved by the Cabinet. "My intervention was necessary as the Governor was going beyond the text prepared by the elected government," he said.
Criticising the Governor, Appavu alleged that he had no moral authority to criticise the State government. "If the Governor wishes to indulge in politics, he can step out of Lok Bhavan, join a political party and then criticise the government," the Speaker said.