Chennai: The M. K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government and Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi were caught in a tussle Friday over the position of Senthil Balaji, arrested in an ED probe, in the Council of Ministers.
The governor, who had returned Thursday the chief minister’s recommendation to reallocate the portfolios held by Senthil, agreed to reallocate the portfolios but has disagreed on Senthil continuing any longer as a minister.
“The Hon’ble Governor has not agreed to V. Senthil Balaji continuing any longer as a Minister of the Council of Ministers, as he is facing criminal proceedings for moral turpitude and is currently in judicial custody,” the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.
The governor accepted the CM’s recommendation to reallocate the subjects of “electricity, non-conventional energy development” to finance and human resource management minister Thangam Thennarasu and the department of “prohibition and excise, molasses” to housing and urban development minister S. Muthusamy, the statement added.
The two sides have clashed on various issues including Stalin’s latest visit to Singapore and Japan. The Governor had said that the “investors won’t come just because we ask them to, or we go and have a talk,” and added that the state needs to have an ecosystem to attract global corporate giants.
The Raj Bhavan’s delay in giving assent to various Bills recommended by the state government had also become a subject of controversy, with the DMK even urging the President to remove Ravi on the grounds that he was unfit to hold the office.
Arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged cash-for-job scam, Senthil was sent to judicial custody by a court till 28 June. On Friday, the ED summoned Senthil’s brother Ashok for inquiry in the same case. Meanwhile, Senthil was transferred to another Chennai hospital after a coronary bypass surgery.
In a related development, a Chennai court gave 8 days to the ED for interrogating Senthil at the private hospital where he is currently admitted to in the city. It asked the central agency to produce Senthil on 23 June.
‘Governor acting like BJP agent’
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu witnessed yet another cold war between the DMK government and the Governor after the Raj Bhavan rejected the recommendation of reallocating Senthil’s portfolios. Higher education minister K. Ponmudy said the governor, in a letter, cited the reason for reallocation of the portfolios as “misleading and incorrect”.
Ponmudy alleged that the governor was “acting like a BJP agent” and added that on 31 May, much prior to the ED raids on Senthil, the governor sent a letter to the CM asking him to drop the minister from the Cabinet as he was facing a case in the alleged cash-for-job scam.
The DMK chief replied that only the chief minister has the right to make recommendations for the appointment or removal of ministers and as per Article 164(1) of the Constitution, he added.
After the Governor’s rejection, the chief minister sent another letter to the Raj Bhavan Thursday reiterating the same demand which requested the reallocation of portfolios and the recommendation that Senthil would continue as a Cabinet minister.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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