Chennai
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Sunday demanded an independent probe into a purported audio clip which they accuse is the voice of the state finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, a day after he said it was a fabrication.
A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party will meet Governor R N Ravi, seeking a demand for a forensic audit of the 26-second audio clip, state party president K Annamalai said.
The audio clip had a male voice saying chief minister M K Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin and son-in-law Sabareesan have amassed ₹30,000 crore in one year. Three days after the clip was shared on social media, Rajan on Saturday issued a two-page statement and two images as evidence to show that it was fabricated.
“Publicly available technical analysis of the clip clearly shows that it is not authentic,” the state finance minister said. “I want to reiterate that whatever I am and whatever I have done in public life is all because of my leader M K Stalin. No malicious attempts to divide us will succeed.”
“How can he declare it himself that it is fabricated? This has to be probed if it’s true or false,” Edappadi Palaniswami, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and leader of the opposition, told media persons in Madurai on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“How can he declare it himself that it is fabricated? This has to be probed if it’s true or false,” Edappadi Palaniswami, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and leader of the opposition, told media persons in Madurai on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“We will press for the central government to investigate this. This is the voice of the finance minister saying that there has been a corruption of ₹30,000 crore. It is not a simple issue,” Palaniswami said. “We will take this up with the governor. If it’s true, action has to be taken.”
The finance minister in his statement had said that he would continue to ignore slander, but if it crosses a threshold, he would be forced to take legal action.
Annamalai on Sunday challenged the finance minister to use his voice and produce a similar audio clip. “We shall submit both audio samples to a court monitored investigation and let the investigation agency ascertain the genuine nature of both audio clips,” the BJP leader said. “I will submit my voice samples, and we expect the minister will also do the same.”
The controversy over the audio clip comes close on the heels of Annamalai releasing the first of a two-part alleged expose named DMK Files on April 14 in which he has accused Stalin, his family members and senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders of corruption.
The DMK has sent him a legal notice, seeking ₹500 crore in damages. Subsequently, leaders whom Annamalai accused have individually sent him legal notices, Udhayanidhi on Wednesday and parliamentary party leader T R Baalu on Thursday.