Governor must decide by today, else case can be filed: Subramanian Swamy

Chennai: BJP senior and Parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy on Sunday served a virtual ultimatum to the Governor asking him to decide upon the Chief Minister issue by tomorrow and said a writ petition could be filed charging abetment of “horse trading.”

It is not clear in which capacity he was speaking as the Tamil Nadu BJP party jhas a different view on the subject.  A day after calling on Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Dr. Subramanian Swamy tweeted “the TN Guv must decide CM issue by tomorrow otherwise a WP (writ petition) under Art 32 of the Constitution can be filed charging abetment of horse trading.”

“Glad to see the Soli Sorabjee has come over to the same view as me: “Guv cannot delay for long.” Now every top legal eagle is of my view,” he said in another tweet.

Dr. Swamy, who had been stating that by the constitution Ms VK Sasikala must be sworn in as Chief Minister as she enjoys the majority support of the MLAs, had called on the Governor on Saturday evening. Raj Bhavan sources described the meeting as a courtesy call.

The stand of Dr. Swamy who had moved the Supreme Court after the Karnataka High Court acquitted late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Ms. Sasikala and two others in the disproportionate assets case, has come as a surprise to the state BJP unit which quickly distanced itself from his view.

“I would like to make it clear that it is not the stand of Tamil Nadu BJP. He is a member of the National Executive and his views are not that of the state unit,” BJP state President Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan said. “In DA case Karnataka Govt has now filed an Application seeking deletion of JJ’s name. That is a legal issue that the SC may use to review,” Swamy said in another tweet.

Timeline

Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s decision to bat for AIADMK general secretary V. K. Sasikala, has caught the TN BJP unit completely off guard and has kept them guessing why he is pitching for Ms Sasikala as CM.

Shortly after the demise of late CM J. Jayalalithaa, he predicted that AIADMK “will head for a split as J. Jayalalithaa’s close confidante Sasikala Natarajan will take over the reins of the party and not allow newly-elected Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to function independently.”

“Mind,” he had said, “I am not supporting any of the two (Mr. Panneerselvam or Ms Sasikala). I am just supporting the Constitution.”

Dec. 6, 2016
Dr. Swamy told in an interview with News18 that Jayalalithaa had a huge admiration for his scholarship and that she respected his knowledge and abilities, but the evil influence of Sasikala Natarajan ruined all that. She had total control over Jayalalithaa.

“I feel that AIADMK will explode after this. Her successor O. Panneerselvam won’t be able to run the government. Because Sasikala won’t let anyone grow.”
 
Dec. 7, 2016
 He said AIADMK will split with Sasikala as head and Panneerselvam as CM. Panneerselvam also has no base in the party nor does Sasikala possess any political “acumen”.
 
Feb. 8, 2016
 Even if Sasikala is convicted in my DA case in SC, OPS cannot be CM. “Sasi’s choice in ADMK will be”. OPS loses both ways, Swamy tweeted.
 Meets the President of India and apprises him of the situation in Tamil Nadu
 He lashes out at Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao for taking his own time to come to Chennai to play referee in the tussle for power in the ruling AIADMK. He also demanded that the Union Cabinet should pass a resolution to sack the Governor.
 
Feb. 9, 2016
 If the Governor keeps delaying on the excuse of my case in SC, the judges might postpone giving the judgment till February end.
 
Feb. 11, 2016
 Meets Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao.
 
Feb. 12, 2016
Glad to see Soli Sorabjee has come over to the same view as me: “Guv cannot delay for long.” Now every top legal eagle is of my view, he tweeted.