"I don't want to take this tu-tu main-main [with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa] any farther," was the curt response of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to the controversy over the change of governor in Tamil Nadu.
Patil also said that it was for the TN government to realise whether making a "privileged talk" public was good.
Asked about the Centre-state ties after the row, he said, "The apprehension you have in mind is there in everybody's mind."
His comments came a day after the TN government placed the transcript of the talk between him and Jayalalithaa before the Supreme Court in support of its plea to restrain the President and the Union government from removing Governor P S Ramamohan Rao.
Rao quit his post on Friday after the apex court rejected the state government's plea.
Asked why the Sarkaria commission's recommendations were not followed in the matter, Patil said, "There are many committees appointed and they make recommendations and those are to be incorporated in the law. When they are incorporated, they become binding. Until the time they are not incorporated in the law, they do not become binding."
He said that the Congress' policy on the issue of governors was made clear in Parliament after a four-hour long debate recently. "We cannot spell out the policy everyday. If you have followed the debate in Parliament and followed the decisions given by the courts and if you follow what is written in the Constitution, you shall have no doubt or misunderstanding."
Andhra Pradesh Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala is likely to take charge in TN.
Asked who would be the governor of AP in that case, Patil said, "Wait and see. We don't announce the appointment of governors through the media."
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