DMK won't be cowed down by ED searches against minister, says Kanimozhi
Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Central agencies like IT and ED have been 'weaponised' by the BJP to be used against the opposition, senior DMK leader Kanimozhi alleged on Saturday. She asserted that the ruling party won't be cowed down by the Enforcement Directorate searches against senior minister I Periyasamy.
The ED searched multiple premises linked to the Tamil Nadu minister and a senior DMK leader, his MLA-son IP Senthilkumar in Chennai and their native, Dindigul, on Saturday as part of a money laundering probe.
Responding to the ED action against the minister, Kanimozhi alleged that "on one hand the BJP is using the EC to carry out attacks against democracy using SIR (Special Intensive Revision in Bihar) in a desperate bid to win elections."
"At the same time, agencies like IT, ED and CBI which they regularly use as a weapon against opposition, are being used against senior minsters of DMK as well. These agencies have been weaponised and used as instruments against opposition. One such raid is happening today. The DMK will face this," she told reporters here.
"The minister has crossed so many challenges and stood firm with DMK. No amount of intimidation will threaten our workers and leaders," she said.
The money laundering investigation against Periyasamy stems from an order of the Madras High Court in April, which directed a special court in Dindigul to frame charges against the DMK leader and his family members in connection with a Rs 2.1 crore "disproportionate assets" case.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had moved the court challenging a special court order discharging Periyasamy and his family members from the case earlier.
The HC also directed the special court to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis and complete it within six months.
The prosecution's case was that Periyasamy had amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 2.1 crore in his name and in the names of his wife, P Suseela, sons P Sentilkumar and P Prabhu, disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was a minister between 2006 and 2010.
Senior DMK leaders and ex-ministers, K Ponmudy and V Senthil Balaji are already facing ED probe. While Balaji is being investigated in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was Transport minister in an earlier AIADMK regime, Ponmudy has appeared for an enquiry before the central agency in connection with a money laundering case connected to alleged illegal sand mining.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
