Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu): AIADMK whip Agri S S Krishnamurthy on Friday said that the party will demand a CBI investigation if the alleged poaching of lawmakers via “multi-crore cash” transfers by the ruling TVK continues.
Four AIADMK legislators — K Maragatham Kumaravel (Maduranthakam Assembly constituency), S Jayakumar (Perundurai), P Sathyabama (Dharapuram) and Esakki Subaya (Ambasamudram) resigned as MLAs and joined the TVK, triggering an intense debate among political parties in the state. They were among the rebel AIADMK MLAs who voted in favour of the TVK government in the Assembly during the floor test on May 13.
Accusing that TVK had forced four AIADMK MLAs to resign through horse-trading involving “crores of rupees”, Krishnamurthy said, “If they continue to commit such wrongdoings, I am duty-bound to firmly state at this moment that we will not hesitate to place a demand for a CBI enquiry into this, with the approval of the party’s general secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami.”
Speaking in Tiruvannamalai, the former AIADMK Minister accused the TVK of large-scale, financially driven poaching of its functionaries and stated that the party will not hesitate to demand a CBI and Income Tax probe if the practice continues.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami also heavily condemned the defections, describing the resignations of legislators followed by their immediate induction into the ruling party as a “resignation on the ground floor, membership on the first floor”.
The TVK has similarly faced “horse-trading” accusations from other regional entities, including the AMMK, amid legal challenges filed in the Supreme Court concerning the recent legislative trust vote.
