CHENNAI: Leaders of almost all opposition parties in Tamil Nadu strongly condemned the ruling DMK for the cash-for-jobs scam alleged by ED in the recruitment of 2,538 people in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, in a statement, urged the DGP (in-charge) to act impartially without attempting to protect anyone involved in the corruption, and to ensure that an FIR is immediately registered through the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement, said the revelations did not come as a shocker since his party in 2023 had exposed that the selection process was devised in a manner that gave room for corruption. Since justice cannot be expected if the Tamil Nadu police themselves investigate this matter, he said the state government should transfer the case to the CBI after registering an FIR.
AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said the allegations that numerous people have secured employment through bribery and malpractice have angered other candidates who took the examination honestly. “A proper investigation into the allegations should be conducted, and also into the role of Anna University, which conducted the recruitment examination, to bring out the truth,” he said.
TVK propaganda and policy general secretary KG Arunraj alleged that MAWS Minister KN Nehru has followed the same path as former minister V Senthil Balaji, who is under investigation for a similar scam in the Transport Department that happened during the previous AIADMK regime.
Terming the DMK government a “corruption-model government,” he said the alleged scam has jeopardised the livelihood of several deserving candidates.
BJP former president K Annamalai said the alleged scam was not an isolated incident but part of a disturbing pattern of systemic corruption that has become the hallmark of the present government.
“The bitter irony is that the Tamil Nadu chief minister himself handed over the appointment orders to these candidates on August 6, 2025. While he posed for photographs celebrating ‘job creation,’ the reality was that these positions had allegedly been sold through an elaborate corruption network involving hawala transactions,” Annamalai said.
