MK Stalin demands transfer of RK Nagar vote scam to CBI

Chennai: DMK working president M.K. Stalin and PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the allegations of distribution of Rs 89 crore to voters by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his ministers during the R.K. Nagar bypoll.

Citing the affidavit of Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Lakhoni in the Madras high court that the city police commissioner had the responsibility to investigate the complaints of money distribution to voters, Stalin raised apprehensions if the CEO was abdicating his responsibility.

The city police commissioner comes under the direct control of the Chief Minister and the police could not be expected to file cases on Palaniswami and his ministers, he said. So, Palaniswami must resign from his post to pave way for an independent enquiry into the charges or the CEO should request the Election Commission of India to transfer the case to CBI, he demanded.  If the Election Commission is complacent, it would cause a blemish to fair and free polls and endanger Parliament democracy, Stalin said.

He recalled that the Income Tax department unearthed documents containing the amount of money distributed to R.K. Nagar voters during the raids at the health minister C. Vijayabaskar’s house. Based on the list, the Election Commission of India cancelled the bypoll to prevent the DMK from winning the elections.  The C is maintaining that the situation in the constituency is not conducive for conducting electi-ons, he added.

A 34-page report was sent by the IT department to the Election Commission, Stalin said and recalled that the Election Commissioner directed the CEO to file cases on the ministers whose names were mentioned in the list for taking responsibility for distributing the money. There were documentary evidence to suggest that Palaniswami monitored the distribution of 13.27 crores to 33,193 voters, Stalin pointed out. This was the first time a Chief Minister was charged with distributing money to voters, but no case had been filed against him till now.

Anbumani described the Election Commission’s stand on the charges as ‘anti-democratic’ and said the commission should have recommended a CBI probe since no action had been taken against the ministers who were charged with money distribution. Neither the police department nor the Election Commission had submitted to the court about the progress in the money distribution case. An enquiry by the state police would amount to burying the case and EC’s assertion that it was monitoring the case was a farce, Anbumani said.