New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday rejected charges that it had a role to play in Tamil Nadu’s political crisis, saying that it “does not believe in destabalising” a democratically-elected government for political gains.
Describing the conviction of AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala by the Supreme Court in a corruption case as “good”, BJP’s Ram Madhav said governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao was right in waiting for the apex court’s decision and that the entire issue is AIADMK’s internal matter.
Welcoming the conviction of AIADMK general secretary, the Congress asked the BJP to stop “fishing in troubled waters”. It also demanded that the governor convene a special Assembly session immediately to find who has the majority on the floor of the House.
“BJP and Modi Government should now stop fishing in troubled waters. The role of the governor must now become clear, and rule of law and Constitution must prevail....the governor must forthwith call a special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly,” said Congress’ Randeep Surjewala.
Former Union minister P. Chidambaram said the Tamil Nadu governor should call for a composite vote on the floor of the state Assembly in the event of there being two claimants to the chief minister’s post.
With the AIADMK general secretary pushing her nominee to be the next chief minister, BJP’s state in-charge P. Murlidhar Rao said the appointment of a proxy can never win people’s trust, and urged the governor to take a decision on the basis of numbers as well as credibility.
“Sasikala has the advantage of being at the top of the party, but she does not have the advantage that Jayalalithaa had, which was having people’s endorsement,” Mr Rao said.
