TN Governor Withdraws Controversial Order Sacking Minister Senthil Balaji

Hours after issuing a controversial order on Thursday sacking Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers, Governor R.N. Ravi has withdrawn it, as per highly-placed sources in Raj Bhavan.

Balaji, who was Minister without portfolio, will continue as a minister in the Stalin cabinet.

Immediately after the Governor issued the order, Chief Minister MK Stalin had lashed out against the decision, saying that the Governor does not have any power to remove a minister from the Council of Ministers on his own.

The Governor, in the statement dismissing Balaji, has said that he was misusing his power as a minister and influencing an ongoing case against him.

Sources told IANS that the Governor has hurriedly withdrawn his earlier order after Stalin has said that the DMK and Tamil Nadu government would fight the move legally and approach the Supreme Court against this.

Officials in Raj Bhavan told IANS that the Governor had withdrawn the decision following intervention from the Central government and that the Governor was advised to take a legal opinion.

Balaji, who was the Electricity and Excise and Prohibition Minister, was arrested earlier this month, amid high drama by the Enforcement Directorate in an old cash for job scam, and is now in judicial custody. While he was divested of the key portfolios, he continued to be a minister in the DMK government.