The BJP government at the Centre, which has been using the Income Tax Department, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to muzzle the Opposition by “taking revenge and intimidation in other States, has started doing it in Tamil Nadu, too”, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has alleged.
Addressing the media at Chennai airport, where he arrived on Wednesday night after an official tour of Singapore and Japan, Mr. Stalin said such a practice was prevalent in several States. “It has started here (Tamil Nadu). You all know it. I don’t have to explain any further,” he said.
He was responding to a query on the searches being carried out by the Income Tax Department on the premises of people acquainted with Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji.
Mr. Stalin said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann would meet him in Chennai on Thursday. Efforts to coordinate among all Opposition parties were already under way, and the “DMK will be completely involved” in such efforts, he said.
When asked if there was a specific date for a meeting of such parties, Mr. Stalin said the Congress president had requested a change in the date. He said he, too, had committed himself to taking part in an event to open the sluices of the Mettur dam, and hence, he had sought a change in the date. “It (meeting) will certainly happen, and the DMK will take part in it,” he said.
To a query on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s criticism of the Chief Minister’s visit to Singapore and Japan, Mr. Stalin said the AIADMK leader was thinking that “others would also be like him”. He referred to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu’s rejoinder in this regard.
When asked about Tamil Nadu’s stand on Karnataka’s proposal for a dam across the Cauvery at Mekedatu, Mr. Stalin referred to the statement issued by Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan, and further said the Tamil Nadu government will strongly reiterate its position.
When asked about the Sengol (sceptre) installed in the new Parliament building, Mr. Stalin said it would have been a matter of pride if only the Sengol had truly come from Chola lineage, but historians had rejected the claim.
Mr. Stalin said several MoUs had been signed during his official tour of Singapore and Japan. They would bring in investments to the tune of ₹3,233 crore and provide employment to over 5,000 people, directly and indirectly.
Ministers, senior DMK leaders and functionaries welcomed the Chief Minister.
