Senthil Balaji arrest: Tamil Nadu govt condemns Governor R N Ravi for returning file on portfolio reallocation

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday flayed Governor R N Ravi for returning the file pertaining to the reallocation of portfolios following the arrest of Minister V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, earlier in the day, 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 recommendation, state Higher Education minister K Ponmudi said.

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“The Chief Minister has the right to decide on the portfolio allocations or in inducting a minister or dropping a minister from the council of ministers, as per constitution and not the Governor,” Ponmudi said in a statement here.

On May 31, the Governor had sent a letter to the CM 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.