Tamil Nadu CM Stalin welcomes Senthil Balaji after SC grants bail to him

Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin hailed the sacrifice and resolve of former State Minister for Prohibition and Electricity, V Senthil Balaji, who walked out of the Puzhal jail to a grand welcome by his supporters following the Supreme Court granting him bail on Thursday after 471 days of incarceration in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

‘In these dark times when the Enforcement Directorate has been converted into a department meant to oppress political opponents, the only dawn is the Supreme Court,’ Stalin said in his message on X, put out soon after the news of the Supreme court verdict came in on Thursday.

Even during the Emergency such a prolonged period of incarceration was not there, he said, adding that political conspiracies were continuously hatched for 15 long months since they wanted to break the resolve of Senthil Balaji by arresting him and putting him behind bars for a long time.

Welcoming Senthil Balaji back, Stalin said in his message that he was coming out of prison as a stronger person. After the Chief Minister left for New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Senthil Balaji emerged from the prison with DMK organization secretary R S Bharathi, a battery of lawyers and hundreds of supporters and relatives waiting outside with garlands to welcome him.

The supporters had even arranged a music band to play welcome tunes as the former Minister received their reception and lit firecrackers in celebrations. Earlier just as the news of the bail came out, it caused jubilation and cheer among DMK supporters.

Besides reacting happily to the development on social media, in some places like Karur celebrations broke out on the streets with the distribution of sweets and lighting of firecrackers.

Some opposition party leaders, however, criticized the hullabaloo raised by the ruling party cadre over a bail order and said that they were behaving as though the Minister was arrested for taking part in the freedom struggle.

At another level the bail gave grist to the political rumour mills that started whirring with its old speculations on Senthil Balaji being sworn in again as Minister and Minister for Youth Affairs, Udhayanidhi Stalin, being elevated as Deputy Chief Minister in the next few days.

Since the Chief Minister will return from New Delhi on Friday, it is said that Senthil Balaji will wait in Chennai to meet him before going to his native place. His re-induction into the State Minister will happen soon, along with a Cabinet reshuffle, said the rumours.