NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, JUNE 16
Despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the Governors have to clear the decision of the elected government, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Thursday returned the file on the reallocation of portfolios following the arrest of Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji. The DMK said the CM had the right to decide on the portfolio allocations.
— Dr.K.Ponmudy (@KPonmudiMLA) June 16, 2023
- Two days after the Enforcement Directorate arrested V Senthil Balaji, Stalin’s efforts to allocate the ministries under him have led to a fresh tussle with Ravi
- Chief minister M K Stalin had recommended to the Governor to reallocate the portfolios of electricity and prohibition held by Balaji to Ministers Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy
- The chief minister had the right to decide on the portfolio allocations or in inducting a minister or dropping a minister from the council of ministers, as per the constitution and not the Governor: Ponmudi
With this, the tussle between the Tamil Nadu government led by MK Stalin and the governor entered a new chapter with the latter turning down the former’s recommendation to allocate the portfolios of an arrested minister to other cabinet ministers.
Chief Minister M K Stalin had recommended to the Governor to reallocate the portfolios of electricity and prohibition held by Balaji to Ministers Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy, but Ravi had not accepted the recommendations.
State Higher Education minister K Ponmudi, who spoke for the DMK government, flayed the Governor for the stance, stating that the Governor “is acting like the agent of the BJP government at the Centre”.
“The chief minister had the right to decide on the portfolio allocations or in inducting a minister or dropping a minister from the council of ministers, as per the constitution and not the Governor.”
“On May 31, the Governor sent a letter to the chief minister asking to drop Senthil Balaji and the very next day, Stalin had given a detailed reply. The Governor, who ought to know the constitution, should have accepted the CM’s recommendation on the portfolio reallocation. But the Governor is acting like the agent of the BJP government at the Centre,” Ponmudi said.
“Merely because a minister faces a case, he can’t be removed. Was Home Minister Amit Shah who faced a case when he was a state minister, sacked?” Ponmudi asked and added in the past many AIADMK ministers who faced cases were not sacked.
Ponmudi also accused the Governor of playing cheap politics by selectively leaking his May 31 letter and not the June 1 reply of the chief minister.
Balaji was arrested by the ED in a cash-for-jobs scam allegedly involving him when he was Transport minister in the then CM J Jayalalithaa-led cabinet.
