CHENNAI, JULY 12 (IANS) AIADMK General Secretary and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Wednesday criticized PM MK Stalin in labeling former AIADMK ministers as offenders.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the AIADMK leader said that in a recent letter to the President of India, Stalin mentioned former AIADMK ministers as “criminals”.
In his letter to President Draupadi Mormo, Stalin referred to the former AIADMK ministers, “M.R. Vijayabaskar, K.C. Veeramani, C. Vijayabaskar and B.V. Ramana” as dissenters.
Palaniswami said in a statement that the cases filed by the DMK government against the former AIADMK ministers have yet to be investigated.
He also asked Stalin to appoint honest, non-political lawyers as prosecutors in pending cases against current DMK ministers as well as former AIADMK ministers. He warned that once the AIADMK is back in power, the cases will be reopened.
Palaniswami also alleged that the former AIADMK government led by Jayalalithaa registered cases against 50 per cent of the ex-DMK ministers and that the DMK men did not cooperate with the investigation and went into hiding for 10 years seeking reprieve after reprieve.
He said several former DMK ministers are now relieved after the appointment of the party’s lawyers as prosecutors, adding that the people of Tamil Nadu will teach a proper lesson to the DMK in the 2024 general elections.
The Secretary General of the AIADMK also claimed that the Minister of Law S.A. Rigopathi, who also holds the anti-corruption portfolio, must first clear the corruption charges against him by hiring apolitical lawyers.
– Jans
aal/arm
