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ED raids TN minister, Stalin says tactic to divert attention
Ponmudi is the second DMK minister to be raided by the ED after the federal agency arrested minister V Senthil Balaji on June 14
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said that the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raids on Monday against higher education minister K Ponmudi is Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) tactic to divert attention from the opposition meet to start today in Bengaluru.
After about 13 hours of searches on Monday, visuals showed ED officials taking Ponmudi in a car for further investigation in their Chennai office. However, there are no reports of the minister’s arrest as of now.
“Our meetings convened to get rid of the BJP have become a major irritant for the them,” said Stalin. “Like how they have used the ED in the northern parts of the country as a threat, they are doing it in Tamil Nadu now. But the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is not worried about it.” Stalin was speaking before he left for Bengaluru for the two-day meeting of the non-BJP leaders. Over 24 leaders across India are expected to participate. This is the second such meeting after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar convened the first meeting in Patna on June 23.
Stalin further chided the BJP saying that the Tamil Nadu governor’s actions were indirectly contributing to the DMK’s campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “Now, the ED has also joined. So, I think, our election campaign will be easier,” the chief minister said, defending that these actions against the DMK are unjust.
Ponmudi is the second DMK minister to be raided by the ED after the federal agency arrested minister V Senthil Balaji on June 14.
The ED has not released a statement on the raids on Monday against the higher education minister and his son, Gowtham Sigamani but reports say that it is a case dating back to Ponmudi’s tenure between 2007 and 2011 in the DMK government earlier. The allegations are that he violated quarry licence conditions leading to loss of ₹28 crore to the exchequer.
Stalin said that this is a “false case” registered by late chief minister J Jayalaithaa when the AIADMK formed the government. “The case was registered 13 years ago and the AIADMK has been in power for the last ten years (2011-2021) but they did not take any action in this case,” said Stalin. “Recently the courts have dismissed two cases registered against Ponmudi in the last ten years. So, he will meet these cases legally too.”
Meanwhile, BJP state vice president Narayanan Thirupathy said that the ED has the power to enquire anyone at any time. “Pointing fingers at BJP for this is absolutely silly,” said Thirupathy.
