Even as senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has come out in open support of AIADMK chief Sasikala and hit out at some Union Ministers for meddling with the TN crisis, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said motives cannot be attributed to Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao as he is discharging his duties as Constitutional head of the state in a “non-partisan manner”.
He spoke to media on the sidelines of a programme organised by a newspaper in Bengaluru and said nobody should attribute motives against Governor who is acting as per the constitution.
He said, “When you are writing to the Governor, nobody should attribute motives to him. He is behaving in the most non-partisan manner and doing his duty.”
There is no vacancy (on the post of Chief Minister) to be filled because there already is a government which is headed by a Chief Minister, he said.
Naidu said the outcome of the ongoing intra-party turmoil in AIADMK can only be decided by the party and its leaders.He also sought to clarify that it was not because of BJP that O Panneerselvam had resigned.
“The fact is that Panneerselvam was elected as the Chief Minister during madam’s (Jayalalithaa’s) period also. Subsequently, AIADMK leaders themselves have made him the Chief Minister. I am not his advocate to explain on his behalf,” he said.
Replying to another query, Naidu said the Governor is studying the situation and is duty-bound to go by the Constitution and provide a stable Government to the people of Tamil Nadu.
Naidu also clarified that BJP has no member in the Tamil Nadu assembly and there was no chance for the party to form a government there.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party does not want to fish in troubled waters of Tamil Nadu politics and dismissed the allegation of interfering as “unfair criticism”.
“We are not preparing any ground. It is their internal matter. Both the AIADMK General Secretary and Chief Minister Panneerselvam are making statements. We don’t want to fish into the troubled waters,” he added.
The Governor, he said, was grappling with multiple issues. “The party is saying something and the Chief Minister is saying something else. The serving CM resigns and comes back to say that he was forced to resign.a He [Governor] also has to consider the legal implications since there is a precedent in an earlier case that former Governor Fathima Beevi faced , Naidu pointed out. Eom/blr