DMK president M.K. Stalin on Sunday said the AIADMK government feared that the involvement of its party functionaries in the Pollachi sexual assault case would be exposed and had therefore tried to scuttle a DMK protest on the issue.
Accusing the government of shielding the culprits and preventing their arrest, Mr. Stalin, at a ‘makkal ward sabha’ in Royapuram, Chennai, said the CBI had arrested three of the accused four days ago and one of them was a student wing leader of the AIADMK [since expelled]. “He is close to Local Administration Minister S.P. Velumani and there is a picture of him posing with the Minister.”
He said the police had granted permission to party women’s wing leader M.K. Kanimozhi, to lead a demonstration in Pollachi, pressing for the arrest of the ruling partymen involved in the sexual assault only after he threatened to launch protests across the State.
“I called our organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi and senior advocate N.R. Elango to speak to the DGP. I told them that if permission was not granted, I would lead protests across the State. My speech was recorded and sent to the ruling party. Permission was given to Ms. Kanimozhi only after that,” he said.
The DMK leader said that when Ms. Kanimozhi spoke to him about the denial of permission, he told her to defy the ban. “The police sent back women who tried to reach the demonstration.”
Mr. Stalin said the time had come to put an end to the AIADMK government, and that the birth of Thai , the Tamil month, would pave way for a new regime.
Mr. Stalin also came down heavily on Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, elected from Royapuram constituency, saying that he had used political power only to enrich himself and had not done anything for the constituency.
“Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa did not accommodate him in the Cabinet [2011-16] because she had fully understood the irregularities committed by Mr. Jayakumar. That was why he was made the Speaker of the Assembly [he later resigned as Speaker],” he said. The DMK leader said Mr. Jayakumar had committed irregularities in the purchase of walkie-talkies for fishermen to the tune of ₹30 crore.
“I am saying this because we have submitted a memorandum to the Governor, asking him to initiate action against the Chief Minister and other corrupt Ministers. The CB-CID is investigating irregularities in TNPSC selection and nothing has come out of it. The DMK will come to power in four months and bring to justice all those involved in it,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said Mr. Jayakumar was not able to solve even the traffic congestion in his constituency and had not done anything for the development of the constituency.
“All the flyovers in the constituency were constructed by the DMK when it was in power,” he said.
‘Virtuous leader’
Mr. Stalin also decried attempts by some sections to portray former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa as “virtuous”, though she was convicted [Supreme Court had held that the charges would abate since she was dead].
Addressing the second conference of the DMK advocates’ wing in Chennai, he said, “For the first time in the history of India, a Chief Minister of a State was convicted [by the trial court]. It is no small achievement of the advocates’ wing, which waged a legal battle for 18 years.”
He credited the legal wing with shattering the 2G scam. It was the argument of the lawyers that led to the trial judge acquitting all accused.
“A. Raja was forced to quit the Union Cabinet and my sister Kanimozhi was also included in the case. Only those who closely watched our leader Kalaignar [Karunanidhi] would realise his agony,” the DMK president said.
