Chennai, Nov 7:
A political confrontation has erupted between the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and opposition parties following the state government’s decision to dissolve the high-level committee on Centre-State relations and transfer its mandate to the newly reconstituted Tamil Nadu State Law Commission.
The three-member expert committee, formed in April 2025 during the DMK regime under retired Supreme Court Justice Kurian Joseph, along with former IAS officer K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty and economist M. Naganathan, submitted the first part of its report on federal autonomy on February 16, 2026. However, through a Government Order dated November 6, 2026, the TVK administration formally discontinued the non-statutory body, handing over its functions to the State Law Commission.
The move triggered swift condemnation from the DMK and its allies. DMK President M.K. Stalin posted on X: “State Rights 
Theatre Rights 
“, alleging that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay prioritized cinema theater interests over federal rights. Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin escalated the offensive, calling the action a betrayal of Tamil Nadu. Udhayanidhi posted: “I strongly condemn this soplangi government for dissolving the committee set up during our Dravidian model regime to study Union-State relations. By dissolving this committee comprising administrative, legal, and economic experts headed by former Justice Kurian Joseph, this dummy CM has betrayed Tamil Nadu. What alternative plan do they have to protect state rights by citing the State Law Commission?”
In an official statement, the DMK claimed the TVK government acted out of political vendetta and fear that the panel’s upcoming second report would intensify a nationwide debate on federalism. Pointing out that former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other national leaders had praised the initial volume, the DMK argued that landmark panels like the Sarkaria and Punchhi commissions were also non-statutory, rejecting the government’s justification as flimsy.
Left parties also opposed the decision. Speaking at a press conference on November Revolution Day, CPI(M) leader P. Shanmugam said the government should not have dismantled the panel while federal friction points remain unresolved. CPI leader M. Veerapandian stated that dissolving the committee was unacceptable, pointing out that India is a multi-lingual federation where the Union continues to usurp powers from states through centralisation and gubernatorial overreach.
Hitting back at the opposition, Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar accused the DMK of fabricating controversies to divert attention from the Periyar Arivulagam library corruption probe. He stated that the previous three-member panel had already seen a member resign on May 4, 2026. Nirmal Kumar clarified that the TVK government had reconstituted the State Law Commission on August 7, 2026 (under G.O. No. 202) under former Manipur High Court Chief Justice T. Krishnakumar, alongside former High Court Judge Teeka Raman, retired Additional Chief Secretary T.K. Ramachandran, and former Law Secretary A. Arunagiri. Clause 3(c) of the order formally empowers this broader statutory apparatus to review Union-State relations and legal frameworks with greater institutional competence and permanence, the minister maintained.