TN minister Senthil Balaji's arrest Oppn alleges harassment political vendetta

New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) The Opposition on Wednesday condemned the arrest of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate and alleged that it was "political harassment and vendetta" by the Modi government.
     Balaji, arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a long session of questioning, is the first minister in the M K Stalin-led government to face such action from a central agency.
     The agency alleged that he "misused" his office for illegal gratification and "engineered" a job racket scam in the state transport undertakings during 2014-15 with purported kickbacks paid by candidates through his associates.
     The 48-year-old minister was admitted to a city government hospital after he complained of uneasiness soon after his arrest. He underwent a coronary angiogram and was advised bypass surgery at the "earliest".
     He was remanded in judicial custody till June 28 by a Sessions Court judge during a hearing held at the hospital on Wednesday.
     "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge condemns the late-night arrest of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Shri V. Senthil Balaji by the ED," the Congress said in a statement.
     "This is nothing but political harassment and vendetta by the Modi government against those opposed to it. None of us in the Opposition will be intimidated by such brazen moves," it added.
     "Such gross misuse of investigative agencies against political opponents has been the hallmark of the Modi government," the statement alleged.
     DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin stepped up his attack on the BJP over Balalji's arrest and asserted that the minister will face the case legally and so will his party.
     He charged the ED officials with "enacting a drama" in the name of inquiry and accused them of "physically and mentally troubling" Balaji.
     "They had pressured him to the point of him suffering chest pain," Stalin alleged in a statement.
     Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and CPI general secretary D Raja slammed the Tamil Nadu minister's arrest.
     Addressing a press conference, they alleged that states, where opposition parties were in power, were being targeted by central probe agencies like CBI and ED.
     "CBI and ED should be renamed as 'BJP's Army'... We condemn the raid and arrest of a minister in Tamil Nadu. The manner in which the arrest has been made is also very objectionable," Kejriwal said.
     "ED and CBI are not going after corrupt people anymore... all corrupt people are getting refuge in BJP," the AAP leader alleged.
     "There was a time when these investigative agencies were respected. When they used to raid somewhere or arrest someone, it seemed that person must have done something wrong.
     "Today, these agencies have become only political weapons of the BJP," he alleged. Kejriwal said that BJP would still not win any seats in Tamil Nadu.
     The Aam Aadmi Party accused the BJP-led Centre of pursuing "vendetta politics" to divert the public attention from the real issues such as unemployment, inflation and “alarming” data breaches from the CoWin.
     "This arrest is a part of the continued attack on India's opposition, and it undermines the very foundations of our democracy, which thrives on the principles of justice, fairness, and the right to dissent," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a statement.
     Raja, meanwhile, pointed out that the raid took place a few days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed the BJP would win 25 Lok Sabha seats during a visit to Tamil Nadu.
     "It's highly objectionable that ED can go inside the Secretariat. If the BJP thinks they can win seats in Tamil Nadu by doing this, they are living in a fool's paradise. Tamil Nadu will not allow BJP," he said.
     "After the Karnataka elections, the discontent of people against the BJP is visible, and the BJP has become desperate. That is why they are doing unconstitutional things," he claimed.
     CPI(M) Secretary Tamil Nadu State Committee K Balakrishnan strongly condemned the "central government and its ED wing" for the arrest of Balaji.
     In a tweet, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad said, "Not shocked or surprised to see yet another act of vendetta by the Union Government and its agencies against TN Minister Thiru Senthil Balaji. Till the 2024 General Elections this shall continue. Make no mistake -- we shall fight, we shall win. In solidarity with Thiru @mkstalin, CM Tamil Nadu."
     Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also hit out at the BJP, saying when there is an Opposition party in power in a state, the "double engine government" becomes the "double barrel" government -- the two barrels being ED and CBI.
     Jammu and Kashmir-based National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed with solidarity with the DMK and Balaji.
     NC vice president Omar Abdullah slammed the ED sleuths' "behaviour" during the arrest.
     "Tell me in which state has this not happened and which political party has not faced it. It has become a small price we pay for being in politics," Abdullah told reporters at Magam in central Kashmir Budgam district.
     Citing the minister's medical report, "We strongly condemn the way they (ED personnel) behaved with the minister... I think the central government and these agencies should rethink about their behaviour," Abdullah said.
     The ED, in its submission to the court, said it issued the minister a summons to appear before it for questioning but he allegedly "refused to sign and receive" them.
     The agency claimed Balaji "shouted and yelled" at the agency officials present at his house and the agency then attempted to record his statement there in the presence of two witnesses.
     It charged the minister of being "completely non-cooperative" during the proceedings and hence he was arrested around 1:30 am. It said the arrest was executed in the presence of two independent witnesses as the minister "refused" to sign the arrest memo.
     If not arrested, Balaji could have "tampered and destroyed" the evidence, the agency said.
     The PDP said central agencies were first "weaponised" in J-K and later it was replicated in the rest of the country.
     The ED raids are not just limited to Tamil Nadu but have happened in Maharashtra and Karnataka as well, PDP spokesperson Najmus Saqib said. PTI ASK AO SA PK SSB ASK RT
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)