CHENNAI: It seems the PMK has been caught in a trap laid by the DMK government, with the Advocate General (AG) of Tamil Nadu giving an assurance in the Madras High Court that the State will take action on the allegations levelled by the PMK against AIADMK ministers in 2015. The party’s silence on the issue has only led to talks that it senses trouble in the Tamil Nadu government’s action.
It all started with the PMK handing over a bunch of petitions to the Governor against former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK government on February 17, 2015. The party had levelled as many as 18 serious allegations, including a Rs 25,000 crore scam in mining and selling river sand, Rs 1 lakh crore scam in mining beach sand in Thoothukudi district alone, income loss of Rs 52,000 crore in procuring electricity from private companies, Rs 303 crore health insurance scam, gutka scam, walkie-talkie scam and irregularities in TNPSC recruitment, among others.
After an undue delay on the part of the Governor in taking action, PMK president GK Mani had filed a petition with the Madras High Court to order the Governor to act. The case was heard last Friday, when AG R Shunmughasundaram said the Governor had forwarded the PMK’s complaints to the State government and has sought the government’s response on this. Besides, the copies of the complaints were sent to the respective government departments for scrutinising their veracity.
While the PMK usually reacts to nearly every development - political or social, and even claims credit for some of them, the party has been strangely silent on this issue. Veteran journalist and political observer T Koodalarasan told Express, “The DMK also had submitted such petitions against the erstwhile AIADMK regime. But they have come forward to act on the PMK’s complaint. The PMK has stayed mum to keep their alliance with AIADMK intact. It would surely lead to questions about the credibility of their charges.”
At the same time, it is also a clever political move by DMK to either break the AIADMK alliance or to shatter the PMK’s credibility in the minds of the public, he added.
DMK’s second-rung leaders also expressed the same view. They feel the PMK has been caught in a trap. “Because of their current alliance, the PMK is tight-lipped,” said Sabapathy Mohan, DMK’s propaganda secretary.
However, K Balu, PMK’s spokesperson told Express, “The AG has only said that they will look into the issue. Hence, right now, I don’t want to comment on this. We have to wait for their next course of action. In the petition, we have also mentioned about some alleged scams of incumbent Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji, who was then Transport Minister in the AIADMK government. Hence, let us wait and see.”
However, the unusual silence of the PMK has raised the eyebrows in political circles.
Hurting credibility
The move by DMK to act on PMK’s complaints against AIADMK, would surely lead to questions about the credibility of the PMK’s allegations, feel political observers