Governors’ transfer: ADMK meets Kalam

Armed with twin requests, members of the AIADMK in two separate delegations on Monday met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The first, headed by Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly K. Kalimuthu, requested the President to address the Assembly at his convenience. The second, under P.G. Narayanan, submitted a memorandum and raised the issue of appointment, transfer and removal of Governors.

The MPs said the issue is of great constitutional importance in which it would be expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court. Attacking the DMK, it states that the party is a hurdle in the governance of Tamil Nadu. ‘‘Whenever the DMK is defeated at the hustings, it exercises its clout with the Central Government to have a plaint governor appointed,’’ they said.

The delegation — which included state ministers O. Panneerselvan and C. Ponnaiyan and MPs P.G. Narayanan, K. Malaichamy, Kamraj, Gokula Indira and T.T. Dinakaran — recalled the treatment meted out to former Governor Fathima Beevi who was removed from office in June 2001. The BJP-led NDA government was in office at that time.