Chennai:
Amid uproar over the alleged TASMAC rip-off, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) chief Okay Annamalai on Friday launched a scathing assault towards state minister V Senthil Balaji, labelling him because the “kingpin” who stays concerned in “each single rip-off.”
Standing agency on his sources, Annamalai claimed that the TASMAC rip-off was over a thousand crore rupees whereas questioning the ethical proper of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief Balaji to proceed in his put up because the minister.
“I’ve my sources. I imagine (the corruption) is over a thousand crore (rupees). Senthil Balaji is concerned in each single rip-off. He’s the kingpin. Supreme Court docket has questioned if he has the ethical proper to remain a Minister,” Annamalai informed reporters.
Labelling Balaji because the “liquor minister”, the BJP chief stated that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin restored Balaji because the minister as quickly as he was launched from jail. The TASMAC rip-off is larger than the Delhi liquor rip-off, Annamalai asserted.
“The Chief Minister stored Senthil Balaji’s put up heat and gave it again to him as quickly as he got here out of jail. He’s in no place to speak about political probity. I name Senthil Balaji, the liquor minister. This rip-off (TASMAC) is larger than Chhattisgarh and Delhi (liquor scams),” he added.
His response comes following raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the Tamil Nadu State Advertising and marketing Company Restricted (TASMAC) and liquor-supplying firms within the state, after which Balaji denied the costs and acknowledged that the state authorities would face this legally.
“ED have alleged Rs 1000 crores corruption with none foundation. Earlier than ED, one individual made an accusation Rs 1,000 crore rip-off, then ED additionally says the identical of their assertion. Persons are conscious that there are literally thousands of meanings behind this. Authorities will face the ED searches on TASMAC legally,” the minister stated.
“Every little thing is clear so far as TASMAC is anxious. So far as buy is anxious, it will be executed by calculating the common of the final three months of buy model. By taking the common of the final three years and the final month’s buy, TASMAC will give a purchase order order to them. So, now we have not proven any low cost to anybody on giving buy orders. Every little thing is clear. There isn’t a room for any malpractices in TASMAC and the federal government will face ED searches legally,” he added.
The minister claimed that there had been no coverage adjustments in TASMAC functioning.
“Folks place confidence in MK Stalin. TASMAC is being administered by the Tamil Nadu authorities. It isn’t a non-public enterprise. Have we taken any new coverage resolution on TASMAC? It’s functioning with the identical previous coverage,” Balaji stated.
The BJP on Friday accused Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin of spreading baseless rumours in regards to the three-language coverage and different points to divert consideration from ongoing ED raids on TASMAC and liquor-supplying firms in Tamil Nadu.
Annamalai stated, “The ED has uncovered paperwork from the distilleries linked to the era of unaccounted money of Rs1000 Crores, which had been paid as kickbacks. DMK has been fleecing widespread individuals to fill their celebration’s coffers by rigging the system, and TN CM is duty-bound to reply the individuals who acquired these kickbacks. He must also ask himself if he has the ethical proper to proceed because the CM of TN.”
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs walked out of the State meeting on Friday through the price range presentation over the alleged Tamil Nadu State Advertising and marketing Company Restricted (TASMAC) rip-off.
After the walkout, AIADMK Normal Secretary Edappadi Okay Palaniswami addressed the media, alleging {that a} corruption of over Rs 40,000 crores is feasible in TASMAC.
He claimed that the federal government didn’t take any motion even after a raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He additionally demanded that the MK Stalin-led DMK authorities ought to resign.
“ED has stated that there was corruption of greater than Rs 1,000 crore in TASMAC. The investigation is ongoing. It’s potential that there was over Rs 40,000 crore of corruption in TASMAC. The federal government didn’t take any motion even after the ED raid. We demand that the DMK authorities ought to resign over this,” he stated.
ED, Chennai, performed search operations at numerous premises throughout many districts of Tamil Nadu beneath the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for numerous offences associated to TASMAC and its related entities/individuals, stated an official assertion from the Central company.
In a put up on X, ED stated, “ED, Chennai has performed search operations at numerous premises throughout many districts of Tamil Nadu on 06.03.2025 beneath the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for numerous offences associated to Tamil Nadu State Advertising and marketing Company Restricted (TASMAC) and its related entities/individuals. In the course of the search operations, numerous incriminating paperwork had been recovered and seized.”
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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