DMK leaders met Tamil Nadu Governor today over cash-for-vote controversy
A team of three leaders from Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the DMK, met Governor C Vidyasagar Rao in Mumbai and demanded the removal of Chief Minister E Palaniswami and five other ministers, after tax officials claimed they had found documents in raids last week that allegedly reveal their involvement in what is being called the cash for votes scandal. The DMK has also urged the Governor to ask the centre to order a probe into the alleged scam in which it says "ministers have turned bribing agents".
The DMK's MK Stalin will also hold a public rally in Chennai's RK Nagar, where a by-election that was to be held today was cancelled because of the allegations that Tamil Nadu's ruling party, the AIADMK Amma, was paying voters to vote for its candidate TTV Dinakaran.
Mr Dinakaran, who is the party's deputy chief, has accused the centre and the Election Commission of stopping the polls because he was set to win. The DMK is angry because it says it was sure to win the RK Nagar seat, left vacant after former chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa died.
After several videos that featured people seeming to pay money to voters went viral, Income Tax officials conducted raids last week on Tamil Nadu's health minister Dr Vijaya Baskar and an actor, Sarathkumar, who had recently supported Mr Dinakaran.
The documents allegedly found in the raids show a detailed "payment plan" of 89 crores to bribe voters. They show that each voter was to be paid Rs 4,000, with a target to reach about 85 per cent of R K Nagar's 2.6 lakh voters. Targets are assigned in the documents against the names of Chief Minister Palaniswami and the five other ministers; the Chief Minister was allegedly tasked with distributing Rs 13 crore to 33,000 voters.
Mr Dinakaran, who is the nephew of jailed AIADMK Amma chief VK Sasikala has alleged that the "documents released by the IT department are forged and their authenticity is a question." He has said that no money was paid with or without his knowledge.
In a tough battle that would decide more than just who would be the next legislator from RK Nagar, Mr Dinakaran faced not only the DMK, but also E Madhusudhanan, an AIADMK veteran fielded by the rival faction of the party led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam.
The RK Nagar by-election is seen as a tussle between the two AIADMK factions for the legacy of J Jayalalithaa, the powerful leader of the party for many years. After she died, her long-time companion VK Sasikala was appointed the party's interim general secretary, which has been challenged by the rival faction. Ms Sasikala also wanted to be chief minister but that plan was crushed by the Supreme Court, which sent her to jail for corruption earlier this year.
Before she went to prison Ms Sasikala appointed Mr Dinakaran as her deputy and ensured that her proxy E Palaniswami became Chief Minister.