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Papri Sri Raman in Madras
Eleven states have come out in support of Tamil Nadu, opposing the Centre's decision to transfer to New Delhi three police officers who arrested former chief minister M Karunanidhi and central ministers Murasoli Maran and T R Baalu on June 30.
The issue has already soured relations between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre.
A source in Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party said 11 chief ministers have written to her decrying New Delhi's attempt to 'impose its will' on Tamil Nadu.
Most of the chief ministers belong to the Congress.
Jayalalithaa alleged that New Delhi was seeking to punish Madras Police Commissioner K Muthukaruppan, Joint Commissioner S George and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson for discharging their duty.
The chief ministers' support to Jayalalithaa follows a letter she sent them, explaining that the transfer would have wide implications on Centre-state ties.
She also sought her fellow chief ministers' opinion on whether the Centre could order their transfers "arbitrarily and without the state's concurrence and the officers' preference".
The chief ministers who wrote back with their support include West Bengal's Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Madhya Pradesh's Digvijay Singh, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, Delhi's Sheila Dixit, Bihar's Rabri Devi, Assam's Tarun Gogoi, Chhattisgarh's Ajit Jogi, Karnataka's S M Krishna and Kerala's A K Antony.
"When the Bharatiya Janata Party was in the opposition, the rights of the states used to be taken up vehemently on the grounds of administrative independence and autonomy," recalled Ashok Gehlot in his letter.
AIADMK sources said the Tamil Nadu government was unlikely to relent in its opposition to the transfer orders.
Indo-Asian News Service
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