A Chief Minister decides on Ministers and their portfolios, not the Governor: S. Mutharasan

A Chief Minister decides on Ministers and their portfolios, not the Governor: S. Mutharasan

The Chief Minister of a State decides who the Ministers in his Cabinet should be and what portfolios they get, not the Governor, said Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary R. Mutharasan here on Friday.

Even the Supreme Court has said that Governors do not have such independent powers. When Minister V. Senthilbalaji was arrested and admitted to a hospital, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wanted to allocate his portfolios to others as work should continue in these departments. “The Governor should sign the recommendation, and he does not have the power to return it. We do not know who gave him [Governor] such powers,” Mr. Mutharasan told the media.

When the Income Tax (I-T) Department conducted raids in Karur, the officials did not inform the local police. The Electricity Minister had assured that he would cooperate and offer an explanation to the documents, but he has been treated as a criminal. Even the Chief Secretary did not know when the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officials conducted raids at the Secretariat, he said.

The ED, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the I-T Department are all independent agencies that have the authority to function independently. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah misuse the agencies in the non-BJP ruled States. “This is authoritarian and undemocratic,” he charged.

“If they are unable to find political solutions to challenges, they become authoritarian and misuse the agencies. They know the BJP will not be elected to power for a third time in 2024, and they are trying to change it by misusing the independent agencies. People are watching and will give a fitting reply against such a rule,” he said.