DMK wants Panneerselvam to explain Rao's claims to chief secy post

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday demanded an explanation from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam over former Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao's insistence that he continued to remain on the top post despite being replaced following Income Tax raids at his residence and office.

DMK treasurer and opposition leader M K Stalin said he had sought an explanation from Panneerselvam when the raids were being carried out at Rao's house and office last week.

"If the former Chief Secretary is in a position to claim that he is the Chief Secretary, then only the Chief Minister has to respond to that," Stalin told reporters in Chennai.

Rama Mohana Rao, who is under I-T scanner, had earlier in the day said that the copy of the transfer order on his removal as chief secretary has not been handed over to him yet and that therefore he continued as the topmost official of the state government.

The state government had last week appointed Girija Vaidyanathan in his place, a day after I-T sleuths raided Rao's Anna Nagar residence and chamber at the State Secretariat.

Asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre was "behind" the raids, Stalin said it was up to the central government, BJP and I-T officials to clarify it.