Congress backs Tamil Nadu CM Stalin's decision to form high-level committee on state's autonomy

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 15 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Congress President K Selvaperunthagai on Tuesday backed Chief Minister MK Stalin's decision to form a high-level committee to look into the rights and autonomy of the state with respect to the Centre.
Stalin's move came days after the Supreme Court pulled up the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for 'sitting' on bills passed by the state assembly.
Voicing his party's (Congress) support to the decision, Selvaperunthagai stated that this resolution was "need of the hour" and accused the BJP of "continuously attacking" the federal system.
"This resolution is a need of the hour because the BJP continuously attacks the federal system... So we have to approach the Supreme Court for everything... Union government is bound to follow the Indian Constitution, but they want to destroy it... Congress supports this resolution..." the Tamil Nadu Congress President told ANI.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced the formation of a high-level committee aimed at safeguarding state autonomy. The committee will be headed by Retired Justice Kurian Joseph and include retired IAS Ashok Vardan Shetty and Mu Nagarajan.
This comes in the wake of the run-ins that the DMK-led government has had with Governor RN Ravi over the clearance of various bills passed by the State assembly.
The committee will research and submit an interim report to the State by the end of January 2026, and a full report will be submitted within two years. The committee will also give recommendations on strengthening the relationship between the State and the Union Government.
While Congress party has supported this move, but on the other hand, BJP, the party that rules Centre, has criticised this resolution.
Tamil Nadu BJP President Nainar Nagenthiran slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin's resolution to appoint a high-level committee, calling it a "separatist act".
The state BJP President alleged that the DMK's demand for greater powers at the state level was an attempt to centralise authority within the party.
"We view the resolution brought by the Chief Minister under Rule 110 regarding state autonomy as a separatist act... The DMK are essentially saying that it wants all the power for itself," Nagenthiran said.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA and National Mahila Mocha President Vanathi Srinivasan said that the DMK calls for autonomy whenever they are in crisis.
"It is not the first time the DMK party is talking about the autonomy of the state; whenever they are facing a crisis, whenever they are in power, when they are facing the anger of the people, immediately they start talking about the autonomy of the state," she said. (ANI)