Advice to T N Governor on C M appointment

Sometimes, the President or the Governor has to take a decision keeping the overall interest of the state, instead of simply deciding on the basis of the letter of the constitution or established procedures.



In the case of present chaos in Tamil Nadu , there is a lady candidate claiming right for the chief ministership on the basis of the number of MLAs that are supposed to support her.



However, the Governor has to take note of the fact that the above lady chief minister candidate and her group has taken large number of MLAs to a resort and kept them virtually within closed door, to prevent them from acting independently, which is illegal act. Her men are said to be blocking the public road leading to the resort to prevent anyone contacting the “imprisoned MLAs”. Even their mobile phones are said to be jammed.



Further, when there is a complaint by the family members of the “4(imprisoned MLAs” to the police that the particular MLAs cannot be contacted and may be under forced stay in the resort by the lady Chief Minister candidate, is it not the duty of the police to question her and even take her into custody if the complaint is genuine?



Is not the governor entitled to become suspicious of the motives of such chief minister candidate? Is he not justified in hesitating to invite such a person to be sworn in and asking her to test her strength in the assembly?



Further, the above lady chief minister candidate is not even a MLA now and how can a non MLA be asked to be swear in as chief minister and test the strength in the floor of the assembly , in a situation where the party is split and the credibility and acceptance is seriously questioned?



When the ousted chief minister ( now interim chief minister) claims that he has been forced to resign by coercion and wants his resignation to be treated as cancelled , should not the Governor consider this aspect also ? Even in the court cases, a witness is allowed to become hostile and change his view. Why not the same logic be applied in this case also, when the person says that he was forced to sign his resignation letter under coercion ? Is it not the duty of the governor and the police to investigate it and if there is any indication of this claim even being partly proved, then should not the person be given benefit of doubt?



Should not the governor take into consideration the overwhelming views of the people against the lady chief minister candidate, as the swearing in of such person may even lead to law and order issue. After all, Tamil Nadu government had to bow down to the mob protest recently in the case of jallikattu agitation. Is not the governor justified in being anxious about the development of such situation once again?

Should a Governor ignore the fact that the lady chief minister candidate has been convicted on a grave corruption case which was stayed by higher court and the highest court of the country is still to deliver the appeal judgement ?



Tamil Nadu had a new chief minister sworn in just two months back and if the above lady were to be sworn in now and then the judgement of the highest court would convict her , then there has to be another chief minister to be sworn in, in a few days from now. Since it is only a few days ahead of judgement, Governor is entitled to wait for the judgment before giving his decision.



Appropriate advice to the governor is that he must wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court on the lady chief minister candidate, whatever may be the number of days that one has to wait. He also should enquire about “imprisonment of MLAs” and find if the lady chief minister candidate is responsible for this.



One mistake that the governor appears to be doing is that he has not explained to the people so far as to why he is delaying the decision. He is entitled to take decision as he deems fit but he should say why he is delaying the decision.





N.S.Venkataraman

Nandini Voice For The Deprived more