DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Friday demanded the removal of Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar from the State Cabinet, saying the Income Tax department’s raid on his residence had earned a bad name for Tamil Nadu.
In a statement, he said that either Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami should remove Mr. Vijaya Baskar from the Cabinet, or Acting Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao should dismiss him from his post.
Mr. Stalin added that it was highly condemnable that Ministers including R. Kamaraj and Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu’s Representative in New Delhi Thalavai Sundaram visited Mr. Vijaya Baskar’s residence and allegedly got into a tussle with Income Tax officials.
“Income Tax searches are nothing new for the AIADMK government. They were conducted in ‘Karur’ Anbunathan’s house during the last Assembly election, followed by similar searches on premises belonging to former Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan and former Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy. The I-T raid on the State Secretariat (in the chamber of then Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao) was a black mark in the history of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
PMK’s plea
PMK founder S. Ramadoss also sought the sacking of Mr. Vijayabaskar and Vice-Chancellor of Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Geethalakshmi.
He also said cases should be registered against them and action taken for indulging in corruption.
