Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday dismissed Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr S Ramadoss’s claim of a secret meeting with Gautam Adani. The Chief Minister, pointing to an earlier explanation by the state electricity minister, asked not to twist things.
“The minister has already provided an explanation. Please don’t twist things. He doesn’t seem to have any work other than releasing statements every day. I cannot keep responding to each of his statements,” Stalin said when asked what he had to say about Ramadoss’s claims of his secret meeting with Gautam Adani.
The chief minister was answering questions from the media at the inaugural event of Vizhuthugal, an initiative for the differently abled in his Kolathur constituency.
On Thursday, senior Ramadoss, in a statement, demanded an explanation from Chief Minister MK Stalin for the Adani group having ties with Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO). Ramadoss demanded an explanation after Adani group chairman Gautam Adani was indicted in a bribery and a fraud case by a court in the USA.
In his statement, Ramadoss said that Adani had held a secret meeting with Stalin at the chief minister’s residence in Chennai on July 10. “What was the purpose of this secret meeting? The government must explain the reasons behind the secret meeting between Stalin and Adani.”
He also said that the government must order an inquiry into the companies, including TANGEDCO, which gave subsidies to the Adani group. Ramadoss also recalled the accusations against Adani by a US court that he raised investments to the tune of Rs.25,500 crores in the US by showing contracts for various power projects in India, including Tamil Nadu.
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Earlier, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji had clarified, saying, “TANGEDCO has no commercial association with Adani group.” He said that the arrangements had been established with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is a central government agency, to procure 1,500 megawatts of power to fulfil Tamil Nadu’s electricity demands.
“I wish to emphasise that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has conducted no commercial dealings with the Adani group for the past three years. While numerous states are referenced in the reports from the US, Tamil Nadu’s reference appears merely in a single line,” Senthil Balaji said.
Hours later, PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss came out strongly against the Chief Minister, asking him to apologise for ridiculing his father. “He is a senior leader who was the reason behind the caste-based reservations, at least five times, across India. He is the only senior politician in India who commands respect for his stature. Ramadoss never wanted to be in power and worked only for the welfare of the people. If he had not supported the DMK’s minority government in 2006, it would not have completed its full term. If he had not asked us to withdraw the case in the Madras High Court, MK Stalin couldn’t have managed to get space by the Marina to bury his father Kalaingnar,” Anbumani said.