CHENNAI: DMK law wing joint secretary and Madurantakam candidate I Paranthamen on Monday demanded that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay be named the prime accused in a case related to the allegations that two MLAs were pressured to resign and contest the ensuing bypolls.
Addressing reporters at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai, Paranthamen said that the two legislators — Rajendran and Senthil Selvan, who were elected under the DMK’s Rising Sun symbol — lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on October 1.
In their complaint, the MLAs claimed that Vijay, TVK election management general secretary and minister Aadhav Arjuna, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, and his son Durai Vaiko had acted in concert to pressure them into resigning their posts.
The DMK candidate claimed that Aadhav Arjuna had conveyed the proposal during a meeting with Vaiko on June 16. “Vijay says it, Aadhav Arjuna conveys it, Vaiko takes it forward and speaks to the MLAs. This is nothing but a horse-trading government,” he alleged.
Further, he claimed that Vaiko had told the two MLAs that the CM would offer one of them a ministerial post, but that both had rejected the proposal.
Paranthamen said the DMK had already submitted complaints to the Governor and other authorities over the issue and urged the DVAC to immediately register a case based on the October 1 complaint. He alleged, “The intention is to buy MLAs, create bypolls, and increase their strength in the Assembly.”
Accusing the ruling TVK government of hypocrisy, Paranthamen said, “Vijay keeps claiming that he has eradicated corruption. But all four legs of the chief minister’s chair are legs of corruption.”