CHENNAI: A delegation of AIADMK leaders including CVe Shanmugam, D Jayakumar, C Vijaya Baskar and P Benjamin called on Governor RN Ravi and urged him to advise CM MK Stalin to drop V Senthil Balaji from the council of ministers since he has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The delegation submitted a memorandum signed by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in this regard.
“Senthil Balaji continuing as a minister even after being arrested by the ED is against the law and the Constitution. The chief minister should have dropped him from the council of ministers immediately after his arrest. Since Stalin has not done this so far, the governor should advise him to do so.
Instead of dropping the minister from the Cabinet, the CM, his family members and Cabinet colleagues have been making a beeline for the hospital and trying to create an impression like Balaji has been arrested for a holy cause,” Shanmugam told reporters at the Raj Bhavan.
Shanmugam also said Stalin, as leader of the opposition, had demanded action against Balaji (who was then in the ruling AIADMK) on corruption charges, but is now shielding him. Shanmugam also gave a detailed account of how the cash-for-job scam gained momentum after a Supreme Court verdict and that the Union government had no role in the recent searches which were carried out after the apex court directive.