Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi might be tying himself in knots over minister Senthil Balaji issue, first sacking him on his own, then retreating, ‘clarifying’ he is holding off to seek legal advice. But he doesn’t seem to lose a single opportunity to chastise Chief Minister Stalin on real or imagined grounds. Since the Jayalalithaa-Chenna Reddy tug-of-war in the early nineties, this is the first time the Governor and Chief Minister are exchanging such furious barbs - only in the former case it was the CM who was seen as being needlessly provocative, but this time the boot seems to be on the other foot.
In his letter to the Chief Minister, informing him that he was sacking minister Senthil Balaji, Governor Ravi expressed his displeasure with his continuance as a minister when he was being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the cash-fo-jobs scam.
The letter, dated Thursday, June 29, came moments after the Governor issued an order dismissing Senthil Balaji from the Cabinet. Even though he was arrested, Senthil Balaji was retained as a minister, while his portfolios were reallocated.
The letter from the Governor said that he was “disappointed” by the Chief Minister’s response to his earlier letter where he suggested that Senthil Balaji be removed from the cabinet. RN Ravi said, “Instead of taking my advice in fair spirit, you [referring to MK Stalin] responded with an inflammatory letter, in which you, instead of giving due consideration to my advice, used intemperate languages and accused me of overstepping my Constitutional limits. Your response disappointed me - to say the least.”
RN Ravi also deplored that the Chief Minister had not disclosed “all” the reasons why Senthil Balaji’s portfolio needed to be reallocated. He said that in the letter the Chief Minister wrote on June 15 seeking reallocation, he did not mention that Senthil Balaji was arrested nor did he mention that the ED was investigating him for money laundering. The Governor said, “ I wrote you a letter on the same day asking for full facts. However you refused to give the details asked for and wrote back a letter using unsavoury language and insisting on me to act without delay.”
The Governor further alleged that Senthil Balaji was able to intimidate officials from a “central agency” like the Income-Tax (I-T) because he was “emboldened” in his position as a cabinet Minister. The letter said, “The Income Tax officials conducted a raid of the premises and the persons associated with Senthil Balaji on 28.05.23 during which supporters of Senthil Balaji prevented the raid from being conducted, physically assaulted and injured the Income Tax officers and snatched valuable documents from their custody.”
Accusing the Chief Minister of being biased for not removing Senthil Balaji from the cabinet, RN Ravi said, “Your insistence to retain Senthil Balaji against my advice as a member of your Council of Ministers reflects your unhealthy bias. There are reasonable apprehensions that continuation of Senthil Balaji as a Minister will continue to obstruct the due process of law and disrupt the course of justice.”
Since the CM was biassed, he had to act, it looked like. The Governor ended the letter stating that he was dismissing Senthil Balaji from the Cabinet with immediate effect.
However, the bravado did not last long. Shortly after his letter ordering Senthil Balaj’s dismissal, the Governor wrote another letter to MK Stalin stating that he had been “advised” by the Union Home Minister that it would be “prudent to seek the opinion of the Attorney General also.” Accordingly, he said that his order would be in “abeyance” till further communication from him.