Tamil Nadu minister K Ponmudy late on Thursday hit out at governor RN Ravi and asked him not to behave like a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agent amid the fresh row between the latter and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government over reallocation of minister V Senthil Balaji’s portfolios.
Ponmudy said Ravi returned a file chief minister MK Stalin sent to the governor for the relocation following Balaji’s arrest over money laundering charges and hospitalisation on Wednesday. He said Ravi refused to sign the file saying it is misleading and incorrect, prompting Ponmudy to call a late-night press conference.
“The CM [chief minister] said that since the minister is ill, his portfolios have to be reallocated, but the governor returned it [file] saying that he has not given the exact reason. And the reasons he [Stalin has] given are misleading and incorrect,” said Ponmudy.
Ponmudy addressed the press conference after Stalin called a meeting and again asked Ravi to sign the file. “We think he [Ravi] will accept it and not behave like an agent of the BJP,” said Ponmudy.
Stalin proposed the handing over of Balaji’s electricity, prohibition, and excise portfolios to ministers Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy. The DMK government has been at loggerheads with Ravi over a series of issues.
Ponmudy said Ravi wrote to Stalin on May 31 seeking Balaji’s removal as the minister. He added this came days before the federal agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided Balaji’s premises and arrested him. “…on the night the CM returned from Japan, he received the governor’s letter [for Balaji’s removal]. …the CM replied to him the next day that there is no need for ministers to be removed if they have been named in a case,” said Ponmudy.
Balaji was sent to judicial remand until June 28 hours after he was arrested on Wednesday in a 2011-2015 corruption case even as he was admitted to a Chennai hospital, where doctors recommended an immediate heart surgery.
The DMK criticised the BJP-led Union government for misusing federal probe agencies following Balaji’s arrest. Senior advocate and DMK lawmaker NR Elango filed a petition before the Madras high court saying the minister was arrested without due procedure such as issuing summons.
Stalin accused the federal agency of torturing his colleague, which allegedly led to his hospitalisation, even after the minister said he would cooperate with the investigation. He said the DMK will not be intimidated by “these threats” from the BJP. At least 15 state ministers visited Balaji in the hospital.
Balaji was arrested hours after Stalin slammed the BJP’s “backdoor tactics” against its political opponents as ED on Tuesday launched raids at premises linked to Balaji as part of its probe against him in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, Karur and Erode. Stalin called ED’s raid at the secretariat office of Balaji a direct assault on the federal principle.
The allegations against Balaji date back to 2011-15 when he was the transport minister in the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government. The complaints against him alleged he took money from candidates in return for promised jobs. Many candidates did not get jobs despite allegedly paying bribes, the complaints alleged. After the allegations, Balaji was dropped from the cabinet and he quit AIADMK after former chief minister J Jayalalitha’s death in 2016. He joined the DMK in December 2018.
