Tamil Nadu: ED Raids DMK Minister Ponmudy, MP Son; Political War Of Words Erupts

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday raided multiple premises of DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and his MP son Gautham Sigamani Pon in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining.

ED officials were escorted by armed personnel of the CRPF as they searched the premises linked to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader

under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case relates to illegal allotment of mines when Ponmudi was the mines minister. Total five mines were allocated when he occupied the position of Mines Minister, sources said, adding that all five were allocated to either his close relatives or his benamis

Two mines were allocated to his son Gautham Sigamani, who is an MP, in violation of the norms

The raids were being undertaken at the premises of the father-son duo in state capital Chennai and Ponmudy’s stronghold of Villupuram, officials said.

Who Is K Ponmudy

K Ponmudy (72) is an MLA from the Tirukkoyilur assembly seat in Villupuram district while his 49-year-old son Sigamani is a Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.

The minister is accused of obtaining mining/quarry licences for his son and other family members and the licencees are alleged to have quarried red sand beyond the permissible limit.

The state police had a filed a complaint to probe these charges of alleged corruption against the minister and those linked to him and the Madras High Court in June refused to stay the trial in this case after Sigamani approached it with a petition for relief.

The High Court said that there were grounds to presume that the petitioner has committed the offence and hence the trial cannot be stopped.

The ED had recently initiated a similar action against another minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister M K Stalin after it arrested Transport Minister Senthil Balaji in an alleged cash-for-jobs linked money laundering case.  Stalin and the DMK have slammed the action against Balaji as ”intimidation politics” by the Centre.

How Did Leaders React To The Raids

As the searches come in the backdrop of the mega opposition meeting taking place today and tomorrow in Bengaluru, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin said this raid “is a diversion tactic against the Opposition meeting”.

“Recently, two cases against Ponmudy have been dismissed. He will face this case legally. This raid is a diversion tactic against the Opposition meeting. Governor is already doing election propaganda for us [DMK] and now ED is also doing election propaganda for us. This is making election work easy for us. This is usual and a drama done by them [BJP],” MK Stalin said.

Congress leader KC Venugopal said, “We have seen these gimmicks. They [BJP] have used agencies to target opposition. They are targeting Tamil Nadu. This is political vendetta.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also condemned the raid and said this has become Modi government’s “predictable script”.

“We condemn the ED raids against Tamil Nadu Education Minister, Dr. K. Ponmudy, just before our crucial opposition meeting. This has become Modi Govt’s predictable script in order to intimidate and divide the opposition,” Kharge said in a tweet.

“Surprisingly, BJP has suddenly woken up to the need of putting together an alliance of ideologically opposed parties.

“All like-minded parties are united against the vendetta politics of the Modi Govt and shall not be bogged down by these cowardly tactics to trample upon Democracy,” Kharge added.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter and wrote, “We strongly condemn ED raids on TN Education minister now. They are trying to break parties and scare everyone wid ED [sic]”.

“But for ED, NDA would be left wid no partners and many leaders in BJP would have also left…U cannot scare or control a great nation like India thro ED [sic],” Kejriwal’s tweeted added.

(With PTI inputs)