Chennai: Greater Chennai Police have arrested three individuals in connection with the alleged offer of a Rs 35 crore bribe to a TVK MLA to support a no-confidence motion against the Speaker in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The Tamil Nadu intelligence department acted on inputs about an alleged conspiracy to topple the TVK government by securing the simultaneous resignation of 15 TVK MLAs.
TVK’s Uthangarai MLA N. Ilayaraja had allegedly received a phone call from one Thirunavukkarasu, who claimed to be the head of a political survey organisation named Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS) and allegedly stated that he was contacting the MLA at the request of certain functionaries from a major political party. He also requested a meeting. Ilayaraja refused.
Thirunavukkarasu contacted him again and allegedly said that a resolution would soon be moved in the Assembly against the Speaker and urged the MLA to cooperate during the voting on the resolution, irrespective of his affiliation with the ruling party and offered him Rs 35 crore as reward.
The MLA declined the offer and instructed Thirunavukkarasu not to contact him again. Later, Thirunavukkarasu allegedly threatened that if the conversation was disclosed, both the MLA and his family would face serious consequences.
Greater Chennai Police, in a statement Wednesday said that Thirunavakarasu had claimed he acted on instructions from DMK MLA Senthil Balaji and his brother Ashok Kumar.
Police stated that a case has been registered at the Triplicane police station against Thirunavakarasu and two others—Naresh and Thiyagarajan. Police are investigating if more people are involved.
TVK leaders have attacked DMK after the allegations became public and TVK Minister P. Nirmal Kumar claimed that what they had been saying for the past 40 days that the DMK had been trying to poach MLAs.
“A few days ago, one of our MLAs was threatened by DMK members. This (the threat) was backed by Senthil Balaji and his brother, Ashok. With their support, they allegedly offered around Rs 35 crore to one of our MLAs and asked him to vote against TVK when a no-confidence motion against the Speaker is brought. That was their request. When he refused, he was threatened severely by DMK members. He has filed a complaint along with all the evidence. Based on this, the police have arrested three persons. All three are close aides of Senthil Balaji,” Nirmal Kumar said.
“Stalin has already lost his own constituency, and even in Kolathur, he suffered a major setback. The people of Tamil Nadu have clearly rejected him. Instead of accepting the people’s verdict, he is trying to engage in horse-trading, join hands with the AIADMK, and topple the government,” he added.
DMK leader TKS Elangovan told PTI: “We are not trying to get their MLAs.”
In a related development, the DMK sought action against TVK for alleged horse trading. The party’s organising secretary R. S. Bharathi has written to the Governor seeking intervention by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). He alleged horse-trading by Chief Minister Vijay and MDMK leader Vaiko to induce two sitting MLAs elected on the DMK symbol—T. M. Rajendran of Kadayanallur and S. Senthil Selvan of Sirkazhi—to resign.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: How Vijay is trying to build a standalone majority for TVK in Tamil Nadu assembly