DMK president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday expressed his doubts over a Raj Bhavan statement which said Governor C Vidyasagar Rao had allocated chief minister J Jayalalithaa's portfolios to finance minister O Panneerselvam "based on her advice."


The Raj Bhavan statement issued on Tuesday said the Governor, under Clause (3) of the Constitution's Article 166, had allocated the portfolios handled by Jayalalithaa to Panneerselvam based on her advice.


''Jayalalithaa has been in the hospital for the past 19 days and was advised a longer stay there. Several leaders, including the Governor, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu and others, were not allowed to see or wish Jayalalithaa in person when they visited the Apollo Hospitals where she is undergoing treatment. However, it is amazing that the statement issued by the the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday said the reallocation of the portfolios had been done based on the advice of Jayalalithaa,'' said Karunanidhi in a statement.


The DMK chief said one could not entirely overlook the doubt as to whether the acting Governor had analysed the various provisions of the Constitution in a short span of time.


-- The Times of India