On the recommendations of Chief Minister MK Stalin, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi re-allocated the portfolios held by arrested state Minister V Senthil Balaji on Friday among Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Housing Minister S Muthusamy. However, the Governor “has not agreed” to Balaji continuing as a minister in the cabinet, the Raj Bhavan said in an official statement.
With Balaji now becoming a minister without any portfolio, Ravi has opposed his continuing in the Stalin-led cabinet as he was facing criminal proceedings.
The Governor “has not agreed to Thiru V Senthil Balaji continuing any longer as a Member of the Council of Ministers, as he is facing criminal proceedings for moral turpitude and is currently in Judicial custody,” the statement said.
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Reacting to Ravi’s move, DMK leader TKS Elangovan raised questions about Governor’s say in the matter and said the allegations against Balaji may turn out to be false.
“Does the Constitution permit him to say who should continue as Minister in the Cabinet? The Constitution does not say that. It is not his prerogative, it is the Chief Minister’s prerogative to appoint ministers. He (V Senthil Balaji) is just an accused. There is no judgement as to his charge. He is not a convict. The accusation may be false,” the DMK leader said.
Portfolio Allocation
The portfolio reallocation comes a day after the ruling DMK accused Ravi of not accepting Stalin’s recommendation to do so.
On Stalin’s recommendations, Balaji’s Electricity, Non-Conventional Energy Development portfolio has been allocated to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarsu, while his subjects Prohibition and Excise, Molasses portfolio has been allocated to Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy.
Thennarau and Muthusamy will hold the new portfolios in addition to their existing ones.
Balaji’s Arrest
Balaji had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in a cash-for-jobs scam and is currently hospitalised. He appeared before the Chennai Metropolitan Session court via video conferencing today.
The court rejected his bail petition and remanded him to ED’s custody till June 23. ED also summoned Balaji’s brother RV Ashok Kumar, among others for questioning next week in a money laundering case.
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The case against 47-year-old Balaji, who is the first member of the Stalin Cabinet to be arrested by a law enforcement agency, and his aides relates to his tenure as the state transport minister in the AIADMK government during 2011-15.
The arrest followed multi-city searches by the ED on Tuesday on the premises linked to Balaji in Tamil Nadu as part of the probe into money laundering. The move by the ED came after the Supreme Court issued an order on May 16 allowing investigations in the case by the police as well as the ED.
The ED filed a case of money laundering in 2021 to probe these allegations and its complaint is based on three Tamil Nadu Police FIRs filed during 2018.
(With PTI inputs)
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