ED summons Ponmudi, his son to appear on Tuesday evening in money laundering case
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi and his son who left the Enforcement Directorate office in the wee hours of Tuesday have been summoned to appear this evening in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining.
After almost an overnight enquiry by the ED officials, both Ponmudi and his MP son Gautham Sigamani were allowed to go home at about 3.30 am today and asked to appear before the ED officials at 4 pm today for further enquiry, DMK spokesperson and advocate A Saravanan said.
He claimed that the Minister "cooperated well" with the central agency and wondered the necessity to put a 72-year-old Minister to an overnight ordeal merely for obtaining a statement. "Nothing would have happened if the ED officials had asked him to appear in the morning for obtain the statement," he said.
The raids were held at the premises of Ponmudy and his son in state capital Chennai and in the minister's stronghold of Villupuram.
The ruling DMK dubbed the action as "political vendetta."
The ED teams were escorted by armed personnel of the CRPF and they made some seizures of documents.
The minister is an MLA from the Tirukkoyilur Assembly seat in Villupuram district while his 49-year old son Sigamani is a Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.
"No unaccounted cash or any incriminating documents were seized from the Minister as being claimed," Saravanan told reporters here and sought to know if the central agency has issued any press statement regarding the seizure.
"What's the logic in inquiring into a case 13 years after it was registered. This is nothing but a political vendetta by the BJP government because Ponmudi took on Governor R N Ravi on the new education policy, appointment of vice chancellors and other key issues," he added.
Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Tirupathy, however, claimed that the Minister was not arrested as his colleague V Senthil Balaji was, because Ponmudi cooperated.
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Shivakumar opposes ‘One Nation One Election’, calls it ‘unworkable’
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday strongly opposed the central government’s proposed ‘One Nation One Election’ initiative.
Shivakumar expressed his views at a dialogue on ‘One Nation One Election’ organised by the Joint Parliamentary Study Committee.
He said the plan is a politically motivated, power-centralising scheme that would seriously damage India’s federal structure by weakening states and poses a threat to the democratic system, according to a statement from his office.
As KPCC president and deputy CM of Karnataka, he categorically rejected the proposal, stating that it is being crafted to suit the convenience of those in power at the Centre.
Shivakumar said that the Karnataka Legislative Assembly had already passed a resolution opposing ‘One Nation One Election’ and read out the resolution at the meeting.
He firmly stated that it is “not a workable plan” and added that it is “practically impossible.”
“If a government falls midterm due to political instability, a no-confidence motion, or loss of majority, what is the solution?” he asked.
“Elections are held at different times in different states for different terms. Karnataka had its election in 2023, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala had theirs in 2021, and Punjab and Telangana in 2022 and 2023, respectively. How can these elections with varying schedules be synchronised?” he asked.
He added that the proposal is a ploy to suppress the voices of regional and Opposition parties.
He also said the Karnataka government does not agree with the proposal and remains committed to the position of the Congress party’s national leadership.
