CHENNAI: Several political parties, including DMK, CPI, and Dravidar Kazhagam, criticised the TVK-led government for disbanding the high-level committee headed by retired judge Kurian Joseph on union-state relations.
DMK president M K Stalin said, “The TVK government says yes to ‘theatre rights’, while saying no to ‘state rights’ by disbanding the committee,” referring to the government decision to increase film screenings.
Meanwhile, the DMK, on social media, condemned the CM for dissolving the committee, accusing the government of “sacrificing state rights out of political vendetta”. The party rejected the government’s justification of an overlap between the committee’s work and the State Law Commission, pointing out that neither the latter nor the Sarkaria and Punchhi commissions were statutory bodies.
Responding to Stalin’s criticism, Law Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said, “One of the three members of the previous committee resigned on May 4. Subsequently, the state government constituted a new State Law Commission on August 7 after consulting experts to strengthen the work related to centre-state relations, following which the high-level committee was dissolved.”
DK president K Veeramani said the BJP’s immediate welcome for the move exposed the TVK’s political allegiance. CPI state secretary M Veerapandian, Congress MP S Jothimani, MMK president M H Jawahirullah and SDPI’s A S Umar Farooq also condemned the government over the issue.