Karnataka Assembly Showdown: Governor Tables Speech, Walks Out Without Reading It; CM Siddaramaiah Calls It ‘Violation Of Constitution’

Bengaluru: High political drama unfolded in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot left the House moments after tabling his address, without reading it in full, during the joint session of the State Legislature at Vidhana Soudha.

The Governor arrived amid intense political scrutiny, ending hours of suspense over whether he would address the joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council on the first day of the special session that began on January 22 and will continue till January 31.

Governor Gehlot was received by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Assembly Speaker UT Khader, Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil. Soon after taking the podium, the Governor delivered a brief two-line address, read out the concluding sentence of the speech, and exited the House.

“My government is committed to doubling the speed of economic and social progress in the state. Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka,” Gehlot said before leaving, marking an unusual departure from established legislative convention.

What triggered the abrupt exit?

The abrupt exit followed a prolonged standoff between Raj Bhavan and the Congress-led Karnataka government over the contents of the Governor’s address.

Gehlot had reportedly raised objections to 11 paragraphs of the speech prepared by the Cabinet, which contained sharp criticism of the Centre over the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and its replacement with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act. The speech also flagged issues related to fund devolution, GST compensation, delay in drought relief and alleged injustice under the 15th Finance Commission.

While the state government agreed late Wednesday night to remove a couple of sentences critical of the VB-G RAM G Act, it refused to delete entire sections, citing constitutional propriety.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, who led a delegation to meet the Governor ahead of the session, said Gehlot did not agree with partial modifications and insisted on the complete removal of the contentious portions.

Patil said Article 176(1) of the Constitution mandates the Governor to address the joint session with the speech prepared by the elected government. “The Governor’s speech is nothing but a declaration of the government’s policies and programmes. Cutting it short or refusing to deliver it amounts to a betrayal of the Constitution,” he had said earlier.

CM Siddaramaiah calls Guv Centre’s puppet

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah strongly condemned the Governor’s action, calling it a “violation of the Constitution”. “The Governor has acted as a puppet of the central government. To cover up their mistakes, the Centre has made the Governor read a speech prepared by them. This is unconstitutional,” the Chief Minister alleged.

The special legislative session has been convened primarily to discuss the repeal of MGNREGA and its replacement with the VB-G RAM G Act, an issue that has triggered a nationwide agitation by the Congress under the banner “MGNREGA Bachao”.

Despite the Governor tabling the address, the unprecedented manner in which the speech was curtailed has intensified the ongoing confrontation between the Raj Bhavan and the elected government.

Similar actions in TN, Kerala

This is the third face-off between a governor and a state government in the past two days in non-BJP-ruled state.

On Tuesday (January 20, 2026), Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi walked out of the state Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House on the opening day of its inaugural session of the year, claiming “inaccuracies” in the text.

Similarly, his Kerala counterpart Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar had allegedly “omitted” portions of his speech, with the Lok Bhavan claiming his suggestions had been excluded from the original draft. (With ANI inputs)

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