Who'll blink first?

With the apex court verdict in his favour, Stalin has upped the ante against the governor and Centre. But neither Ravi nor BJP is looking to back down

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

ON APRIL 8, minutes after the Supreme Court deemed Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s refusal to clear 10 state bills for over three years as arbitrary and illegal, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was over the moon on his government's “victory” against Ravi’s (in) action. He asked his party colleagues in the state assembly to “thump the desks” in gratitude to the apex court. “The Supreme Court judgment is not just a victory for Tamil Nadu, but for all state governments in India,” he said. “This is a historic verdict.”

While the opposition AIADMK and the BJP staged a walkout, Stalin asked DMK allies to join in the celebration. In the next few hours, he greeted DMK’s counsel and Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson and his team at the party office. And within a couple of days, all 10 bills passed by the assembly were notified in the gazette. “The verdict enhances the administrative autonomy of the states and regulates the functioning of constitutional offices,” Wilson told THE WEEK. The judgment, he added, gave strength to state governments at a time when the Union was snatching away all their powers.