The former AIADMK Minister and sitting DMK MP, T. M. Selvaganapathy, submitted his resignation from the Rajya Sabha on Friday, a day after a special CBI court in Chennai convicted him in the cremation shed scam.
Mr. Selvaganapathy, who was Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in the AIADMK government from 1991-96 and later joined the DMK, told journalists here that he had faxed the letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman. But he would appeal against the verdict in the Madras High Court.
Mr. Selvaganapathy, who has been made in charge of the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency by the DMK leadership, has been overseeing the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections for the past one month.
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He accused the AIADMK of pursuing a political vendetta against him. “I have resigned even before the Ethics Committee of Parliament gets into the due process of disqualifying me. I have informed DMK president M. Karunanidhi of it.”
“I have high regards for the judiciary and respect the judgment. I am a law-abiding public representative,” he added.
Mr. Selvaganapathy said he had just signed the order to implement the decision of a high-level committee to construct cremation sheds across the State. The decision to improve infrastructure was taken by the high-level committee of the party, headed by S. D. Somasundaram, who was then Minister for PWD, Local Administration and Adi Dravidar Welfare.
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“I did not take any money from the scheme; nor did I indulge in any malpractice. I will prove my innocence in the High Court,” he said.