BJP targets Stalin for 'changing tack' on dismissal issue after capturing power

The Tamil Nadu BJP on Friday said the DMK, while in opposition, had demanded dismissal of an AIADMK Minister in 2018 over a corruption case and wondered why Chief Minister M K Stalin has now taken a divergent stand, opposing Governor’s move on dismissal. The BJP does not want to look into the issue of whether or not a Governor has the authority to unilaterally dismiss a Minister from the Cabinet, State unit president of the Saffron party K Annamalai said.

On Thursday, Governor RN Ravi had dismissed V Senthil Balaji from the cabinet, before keeping it in abeyance.

Speaking to reporters, Annamalai said a Supreme Court ruling in the M Karunanidhi versus Union of India (1979) case, though not directly related to the dismissal of a Minister by the Governor, dwelt on his appointing and dismissing authority. When Chief Minister M K Stalin was the Leader of Opposition, he had demanded in September 2018 that the Governor dismiss the then Minister Vijayabaskar over graft case if the Chief Minister (Edappadi K Palaniswami) hesitated to do so. Also, that year Stalin had demanded dismissal of ministers and the AIADMK government over graft allegations. The BJP’s question was how could Stalin change his stand in five years and how could he now term the Governor’s move on dismissal as wrong, after assuming power, Annamalai sought to know. ”This matter will get resolved only after a legal tussle,” he said and wondered why was Stalin ‘protecting’ Senthil Balaji when the Supreme Court had made observations on the matter. The ruling DMK had earlier asserted that the Governor had no legal authority to sack a minister, a day after Ravi dismissed Balaji, arrested in a cash for jobs scam by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), before keeping it in abeyance.