Chennai, May 16 -- Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government over the presidential reference questioning the April 8 Supreme Court verdict that laid down a timeline for the President and governors to decide on state bills, saying it reveals a sinister intent.

President Droupadi Murmu exercised a rare constitutional provision and sought the Supreme Court's advisory opinion on 14 questions to settle the law on whether the President and governors need to follow timelines to decide on state bills referred for consent when the Constitution does not prescribe it.

In a post on X, Stalin said the questions raised in the reference reveal the BJP-led central government's "sinist...