"Now he calls this a constitutional crisis", Annamalai hits out at TN CM Stalin over dismissal of Senthil Balaji by Governor

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 30 : Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Friday hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and said that Stalin as an opposition leader wanted the Governor to dismiss a leader from AIADMK and now he calls (dismissal order of Minister V Senthil Balaji) a constitutional crisis.

This comes after Stalin hit out at Governor RN Ravi over the dismissal of jailed minister Senthil Balaji, saying he does not have the right to do so and his government will proceed legally in the matter.

Speaking to reporters in the wake of the arrest of the fellow DMK leader, CM Stalin said, "Governor doesn't have the right (to dismiss a sitting minister) and we will face this legally."

Governor RN Ravi passed a contentious order, announcing the dismissal of Minister V Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers but later kept the dismissal order in abeyance and said that he will take the advice of the Attorney General on this matter.

Talking to the reporters, Annamalai said, "We, the BJP Tamil Nadu reserve our comment with respect to the powers of the Governor because he has chosen to go to the Attorney General".

Annamalai also highlighted the previous tweets of CM Stalin when he was the opposition leader, in which Stalin demanded the Governor to dismiss a leader from AIADMK.

Hitting out at Stalin, after reading the tweet, Annamalai said, "We have all seen that Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi issued the dismissal order of Minister V Senthil Balaji and later kept it in abeyance. MK Stalin as an opposition leader wanted the Governor to dismiss a leader from AIADMK and now he calls this (dismissal order of Minister V Senthil Balaji) a constitutional crisis".

Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a cash-for-jobs scam. He was later admitted to a government hospital in Chennai after he complained of chest pains. He was allowed by the Madras High Court on June 15 to be shifted to a private hospital of his choice.