The pressure is mounting on Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao to take a decision in the OPS vs Sasikala battle. While Sasikala’s camp has repeatedly insisted that he must swear her in on account of the support she has from MLAs, there is also the threat of legal action now from Subramanian Swamy.
The BJP leader has repeatedly said, since OPS’s revelations on Tuesday night, that the Governor is bound by the Constitution to swear Sasikala in. He even went to meet the Governor on Saturday evening, apparently to stress his point in person.
And on Sunday, Swamy went one step further.
Threatening a writ petition in the Supreme Court, Swamy tweeted, “The TN Guv must decide CM issue by tomorrow otherwise a WP under Art 32 of the Constitution can be filed charging abetment of horse trading.”
The TN Guv must decide CM issue by tomorrow otherwise a WP under Art 32 of the Constitution can be filed charging abetment of horse trading
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) February 12, 2017
Under Article 32, the Supreme Court has the power to issue directions to a person - in this case the Governor - to perform their public duty.
Swamy’s insistence that the Governor must swear Sasikala in has little to do with his liking of Sasikala. In fact, Swamy is a petitioner in the Disproportionate Assets case in the Supreme Court, in which Sasikala is an accused.
While Swamy has said that he is confident of winning the DA case against Sasikala, which would mean that she will be disqualified if she does become Chief Minister, the politician believes that the Governor has a Constitutional duty to swear her in because she’s submitted a list of MLAs.
“If the Governor has any chance, and he has woken up to his duties as a Constitutional authority, he should ask Sasikala to form a government and then move a resolution in the Assembly for confidence vote and proceed from there,” he told ANI on Friday. “If the governor now doesn't call Sasikala, it would mean he is playing politics and he deserves to be removed,” he added.
As the impasse grows in Tamil Nadu, all eyes are on the Governor to take a decision and make it public. While a purported leak that came out on Friday claimed that the Governor was happy to maintain the status quo until the DA case verdict came out, will this new threat by Subramanian Swamy speed up Vidyasagar Rao’s decision?