Stalin’s first minister powerless

TN Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji while being taken to a hospital, in Chennai, on Tuesday night. Pic/PTI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Tamil Nadu Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Minister V Senthil Balaji under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said, making him the first member in the M K Stalin-led Cabinet to face such an action from a central probe agency.

Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning, they said, even as the 47-year-old minister was admitted to a city government hospital after he complained of uneasiness. He underwent a coronary angiogram and was advised bypass surgery at the "earliest". A local court later sent him to judicial custody till June 28.

Chief Minister Stalin stepped up his attack on the BJP over the ED arresting his cabinet colleague, as he asserted the minister will face the case legally, and so will the party. Stalin charged the ED officials of "enacting a drama" in the name of enquiry and accused them of "physically and mentally troubling" Balaji. The DMK claimed arrest-related procedures were not followed properly in the matter.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Balaji was hospitalised after complaining of uneasiness, DMK leaders said. State Minister P K Sekar Babu claimed there were "symptoms" that Balaji was "tortured". TV visuals showed Balaji feeling uneasy and crying while being brought to hospital. Leader of Opposition and AIADMK chief K Palaniswami sought Balaji's resignation on moral grounds.

The BJP state unit sought to dismiss DMK's charge that it was resorting to vindictive action. The action came months after the Supreme Court allowed a police and ED probe into an alleged cash for jobs scam against him. A joint statement from SPA leaders including TNCC president K S Alagiri and state secretaries of CPI and CPI (M), R Mutharasan and K Balakrishnan, respectively and VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan slammed the "anti-people" BJP-led NDA.

The BJP was losing elections in many states and has realised it was on the way out in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and therefore was resorting to "weakening democratic forces", they said. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, CPI general secretary D Raja and former J&K CM and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah are among those who have condemned the arrest.

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