The sudden move of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam<\/a> (TVK) government to end the tenure of the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations<\/a>, a mere six months before it submitted its final report, has been criticised by almost all its allies, including the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the two Left parties that lend outside support, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The Indian Union Muslim League and the Congress have remained silent, with the issue exposing the fault lines in the Congress, TVK\u2019s major ally.<\/p>\n The government ordered the winding up of the committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Kurien Joseph on November 6, claiming that it had \u201cconsiderable similarity and overlap\u201d with the work of the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission and also that the Kurien Committee was a non-statutory body. The order did not mention that the Law Commission is a non-statutory body either. One day after the order, Part 1 of the Committee report, which was widely praised, was pulled down from the State government website, www.tn.gov.in. It is now available only on the Committee\u2019s website (hlcusr.tn.gov.in). The TVK government has not offered any explanation for removing the report from its website.<\/p>\n However, the Congress party\u2019s Tamil Nadu president Manickam Tagore is yet to react to the scrapping of the committee even as three party MPs criticised the decision while one justified it. Speaking to the media on November 8, the Congress MP Praveen Chakravarthy supported the TVK government\u2019s move, asserting that the committee\u2019s disbanding did not mean that State rights would be surrendered. Acknowledging that Centre-State relations was an important subject, Chakravarthy, who got a ticket to the Rajya Sabha from the TVK, said \u201cit is not necessary for this particular committee to continue. They [the TVK government] will surely have another plan… It is wrong to conclude that this government is not paying attention to Centre-State relations.\u201d Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed the move.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the senior Congress MP Jothimani asserted that this was not the right way forward. \u201cThe Tamil Nadu government\u2019s decision to disband the high-level committee constituted by the previous DMK government to examine Centre-State relations and find ways to strengthen the principles of federalism is both wrong and regrettable. Abandoning, rather than carrying forward, an important intellectual and political effort to strengthen the principles of Indian federalism and the constitutional rights of States weakens Tamil Nadu\u2019s rights as well as the principles of federalism,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe committee was constituted to examine important issues, including the division of powers between States, State autonomy, financial powers, limits of the Governor\u2019s authority, and the rights of legislatures. At a time when its report should be fully reviewed and taken forward as a national-level debate, stalling its work is the wrong approach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jothimani did not agree with Chakravarthy that entrusting the work to the State Law Commission would be enough. \u201cIn today\u2019s political climate, the concentration of powers in the hands of the Union government and the continued weakening of States\u2019 constitutional rights are matters of grave concern. Under such circumstances, efforts to protect federalism and safeguard States\u2019 rights should be strengthened, not abandoned. Changes in political leadership are natural. But fundamental objectives such as protecting States\u2019 rights, division of powers, democracy, and the Constitution transcend party politics. They must continue beyond changes in leadership,\u201d she said. Another senior Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, was restrained but clearly displeased. \u201cThis is a disappointing decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The TVK government survives with the support of five Congress MLAs, two each from the Left parties, the VCK, and the IUML. All parties barring the IUML and the Congress have been voluble in asking the TVK government to reconsider its decision. The IUML, which holds the minorities portfolio in the Cabinet, has been silent, while other parties with a Muslim base in Tamil Nadu, such as the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), have condemned the decision.<\/p>\n The CPI(M)\u2019s MP, Su. Venkatesan, who is considered to be on good terms with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, condemned the decision. \u201cWe are losing a powerful intellectual weapon to counter the BJP\u2019s assault on our Constitution and the principle of federalism. This is a great loss not only for Tamil Nadu but for all Indians who wish to make the Indian republic stronger and more equal in the distribution of power, drawing on the experience of the past 75 years,\u201d he said, thanking the members of the committee for their \u201ctremendous efforts\u201d.<\/p>\n The VCK MP, D. Ravikumar, expressed shock and requested that the government reconsider the decision. \u201cThe reasons given\u2014that the committee has no legal authority, and its work duplicates that of the Law Commission\u2014are not acceptable. The Union government also has a Law Commission. Yet the task of examining Centre-State relations [earlier] was not assigned to it. It was entrusted to the Sarkaria Commission and the Punchhi Commission,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n He recalled that the VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan had made a statement requesting that the Justice Kurian Joseph Commission not be disbanded. The VCK Minister in Vijay\u2019s cabinet, Vanniarasu, in a speech in the first sitting of the new Assembly, asked the committee to continue its work. \u201cThe Law Commission cannot continue the work,\u201d Ravikumar added.<\/p>\n Despite the unhappiness among the allies, it is unlikely they will push further. Leaders from two allied parties expressed shock at the Congress approach to the issue. They asked the Congress to take a clear stand so that the coalition partners can be guided better in times of wrong decisions and crises.<\/p>\n Also Read | The Veeramani case: Crime and cover-up<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Also Read | Tamil Nadu byelections: TVK ahead but looks for a massive lead<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u2018Losing a powerful intellectual weapon\u2019<\/h3>\n
![\"Tamil](\"https:\/\/fl-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/dqjw7d\/article71682176.ece\/alternates\/LANDSCAPE_660\/tvk%20union%20state%20relations%20panel%20disbanded.jpg\" "\\"Tamil")
<\/picture><\/div>\n\n Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay chairs a meeting at Namakkal Kavignar Maligai in the Secretariat, in Chennai, on June 30, 2026.
\n | Photo Credit: @TNDIPRNEWS-X\/ANI\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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