Why is TN CM nervous over Senthil's arrest, asks AIADMK

Press Trust of India

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary K Palaniswami's (in pic) remark on Friday that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin appeared nervous over the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), drew flak from the ruling DMK.

Wondering if Stalin had displayed so much concern when his sister Kanimozhi was arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, Palaniswami sought to know why the CM and also the state ministers were showing so much concern for Balaji. "Why is the CM so nervous? Balaji didn't cooperate with the ED officials, as he had assured....instead of thinking about the people who voted the DMK to power, the Chief Minister is concerned about Senthil Balaji," Palaniswami said in a video posted on the AIADMK twitter site.

In the nearly 14-minute video, he could be heard asking whether Stalin is apprehensive that Balaji would reveal everything to the ED officials. "Is he afraid, as there's something to hide?" Palaniswami, who is the leader of the opposition in the Assembly, asked.

Unlike the DMK members, the AIADMK had no fear, as they had nothing to conceal (madiyil ganam illai, vazhiyil bhayam illai), he said and taunted the DMK to face the ED case in the court and come out clean. Also, he claimed that DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi withdrew the Rs 4,000 crore graft case, which the latter initiated against him.

Dismissing Palaniswami's comments as "filtered lies" Bharathi said the Chief Minister was concerned about the health of Balaji and not otherwise because the ED officials grilled him for over 10 hours and did even give him water to drink. "Balaji was arrested at midnight and tortured and was not even given water to drink. As a result, he suffered a heart attack," Bharathi said.

The DMK organising secretary sought to know the fate of Balaji had there been a delay in admitting him to the hospital. Also, the graft case that he initiated against Palaniswami was still in the court as he did not withdraw it as the AIADMK leader claimed, Bharathi told reporters here. He took strong exception to the AIADMK general secretary for "belittling" the Chief Minister on the issue.