Stalin dissatisfied over Palanisamy's reply on R K Nagar by-polls bribery case

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) working president M.K. Stalin on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over Chief Minister E. Palanisamy's reply on the R K Nagar by-poll irregularities.

Stalin, whose party along with the Congress, staged a walkout from the state's Assembly after the Chief Minister's reply, said that Palanisamy gave a very vague answer when questioned about the case.

"We raised the R K Nagar by-poll bribery issue. The chief minister said that an investigation has been ordered. He didn't give a proper answer," said Stalin.

"We questioned what steps were taken on the notice issued by the Election Commission. The chief minister replied that he was not aware of any such thing. But the ECI sent the statement to the chief secretary two months ago and yet the chief minister claims that he was not aware of any such thing," he added.

This development comes after the Election Commission on Sunday, in a response to Right to Information (RTI) query, directed an FIR against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders T.T.V. Dinakaran, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palanisamy, Vijayabhaskar, Sellur K. Raju, Thangamani, Sengotaiyan and Velumani in R K Nagar by-poll bribery case.

The Election Commission in a statement said that it had received a report from the income tax department regarding the search and seizure of certain documents indicating large scale distribution of money to bribe voters to influence the by-polls in R K Nagar Assembly Constituency which is an offence under Section 171-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The commission has demanded a quick and appropriate action in the matter.

The police had also arrested Sukesh Chandrashekhar, the middleman alleged of striking a deal of Rs. 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol.

Earlier, the Delhi Police Crime Branch recovered approximately Rs. 1.3 crore and two luxury cars, a BMW and a Mercedes, from Chandrashekhar.

Dinakaran's faction contested on the hat symbol for the R.K. Nagar assembly by-polls after the Election Commission froze their 'two leaves' symbol acknowledging the split in the party.

The April 12 by-polls were cancelled by the ECI after the Income Tax officials alleged that the Sasikala faction paid Rs. 89 crore to voters to buy support for its candidate Dinakaran.