Appointment of ministers CM's sole prerogative, says DMK

Press Trust of India

Chennai: The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Friday strongly asserted that appointment and dismissal of ministers is the sole prerogative of the chief minister and lashed out at Governor R N Ravi for his move of dismissing V Senthil Balaji from the MK Stalin-led Cabinet, which was subsequently retracted on the advice of the Union Home Ministry on the matter.

Stating that the Tamil Nadu government was "disregarding" the Governor's action of sacking Balaji, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said Stalin will write a detailed letter to Ravi on the matter. The party also said it may weigh all options and legal factors related to Ravi's action, which came in for criticism from allies of the ruling party as well as other quarters.

Addressing the press here along with Law Minister S Reghupathy and Rajya Sabha member P Wilson, who is also an advocate, Thennarasu recalled Stalin earlier saying the Governor has no right to sack Balaji and that the issue will be faced legally. He alleged that Ravi acted "unilaterally" and "in haste" over the matter and decided to dismiss Balaji without getting proper counsel, only for the Union Home Ministry to point out that he should speak to the Attorney General on the matter.

"After that, he wrote to the chief minister saying he was keeping in abeyance the letter informing of the dismissal of Senthil Balaji," the minister said. "In this matter, the CM is going to send a detailed letter to the Governor. The Governor has no legal authority to dismiss Senthil Balaji nor is there any Constitutional basis to do so."