Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge has condemned state Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot's decision to read a brief speech while addressing a joint session of the state legislature on January 22, 2026.
Priyank Kharge blasts Karnataka Governor over brief speech, calls it insult to Kannadigas
The Congress leader also accused the governor of dishonouring the National Anthem and acting as a BJP spokesperson
Soon after Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot concluded his customary speech directed to a joint session of the state legislature on Thursday (January 22), reading just two opening lines from the script and exiting the House before the National Anthem was played, a major political standoff erupted with the state’s ruling Congress targeting the constitutional head.
After members of the ruling party shouted “shame, shame” slogans on the floor after the governor curtailed his speech, Karnataka’s Rural Development and IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge tore into Gehlot, saying the latter threw caution to the wind by caring little about constitutional etiquette and accused him of insulting Kannadigas as well as the National Anthem.
Also read: Gehlot leaves Assembly after reading 2 lines of address; Siddaramaiah warns of protest
In his brief address in Hindi, Gehlot said, “My government is committed to doubling the economic, social and physical development of the state. Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka.” He walked out soon after, triggering pandemonium.
Priyank Kharge slams BJP
Priyank, son of the Congress’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge, also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying it was using the Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan) as a political tool and that the latest episode involving the governor hurt the self-respect of the Kannadiga community.
Speaking on Gehlot’s curtailed speech, the minister said, “The governor's standing up and leaving without waiting for the National Anthem is not just a violation of etiquette, but an insult to the identity of the nation. The BJP talks about patriotism, but the fact that the governor, inspired by his own, did not pay the slightest respect to the National Anthem has exposed his true face.”
Kharge strongly condemned the governor for not reading the government-prepared speech in its entirety.
'Governor behaving like BJP spokesperson'
“The governor, who should convey the government’s policies and regulations to the people, is behaving like a spokesperson for the BJP's pride. This is a grave insult to seven crore Kannadigas,” Priyank added. The 77-year-old Gehlot has been a minister in the Narendra Modi government in the past and also served as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
Also read: Can states scrap governor’s address? PDT Achary explains
Priyank also alleged that the BJP-led Centre is aiming to suppress the federal system through the governor. Accusing the saffron party of trampling Karnataka both culturally and economically, he said the opposition party in the state has now taken an anti-constitutional path to destabilise the state’s administration as well.
“The people of the state will teach a befitting lesson to the BJP, which is subverting the aspirations of the Constitution,” the minister warned.
State-governor collision over anti-Centre remarks
Tension was mounting over Gehlot’s address to the joint session of the state legislature on its first day on Thursday after the latter refused to read out certain parts of his speech that criticised the Centre. The state was particularly unhappy with the Centre's recent decision to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which the Congress-led central government had started two decades ago.
The Siddaramaiah government then sent a high-profile delegation, including the state law minister, to his official residence in Bengaluru on Wednesday (January 21) to reach a compromise, but the controversy could not be averted.
Also read: TN Governor RN Ravi walks out of Assembly, yet again, amid anthem row
Kharge’s remarks are likely to add more fuel to the brewing cold war between the Vidhana Soudha (seat of the state government) and the Lok Bhavan.
State-governor clashes in other southern states
The matter is likely to have major repercussions beyond the borders of Karnataka as well, particularly in the wake of the recent governor-state government faceoffs in other southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala in recent times.
On Tuesday (January 20), Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi left the state Assembly hastily, alleging the National Anthem had been insulted and refusing to deliver his customary address to the House. The incident prompted the state’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to even question the necessity of having the office of the governor.
(The article was first published in The Federal Karnataka)