Chennai, May 15 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday condemned the BJP-led Centre for using the Presidential reference route to seek the Supreme Court's opinion on deadlines for Governor over Bills, as outlined in a recent apex court judgment, and said it revealed the union government's "sinister intent."
Stalin, president of the ruling DMK asked non-BJP states to join the legal struggle to defend the Constitution. Left parties strongly backed the chief minister and hit out at the Centre for its move.
In a post on 'X,' Stalin said: "I strongly condemn the Union Government's Presidential reference, which attempts to subvert the Constitutional position already settled by the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Governor’s case and other precedents."
He alleged that this attempt clearly exposed the fact that the Tamil Nadu Governor acted at the BJP's behest to undermine the people’s mandate.
This was nothing but a desperate attempt to weaken democratically elected state governments by placing them under the control of governors serving as agents of the union government, Stalin claimed.
"It also directly challenges the majesty of law and the authority of the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Constitution."
The Tamil Nadu CM posed a slew of direct questions, which include the following. "Why should there be any objection to prescribing time limits for Governors to act?... Is the BJP seeking to legitimise its Governors’ obstruction by allowing indefinite delays in Bill assent?
Further, Stalin wondered if the central government intended to paralyse non-BJP state legislatures.
"Our nation stands at a critical juncture. The questions raised in the reference reveal the BJP-led Union Government's sinister intent to distort the Constitution's basic distribution of powers and incapacitate the state legislatures dominated by opposition parties. Thus, it poses a clear exigent threat to state autonomy."
Also, he appealed: "In these grave circumstances, I urge all non-BJP states and party leaders to join this legal struggle to defend the #Constitution. We will fight this battle with all our might. Tamil Nadu will fight — and #TamilNadu will win!
The CPI (M) slammed the Centre's Presidential reference on the Tamil Nadu governor judgement as "yet another assault on the Constitution."
Tamil Nadu CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said the reference went against the essence of the Constitution, and also diluted it. Further, Mutharasan in a statement said that it was against federalism, which warrants democratic forces joining hands.