Stalin demands resignation of Sitharaman over chopper row

DMK working president M K Stalin today demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam following a controversy over use of a military helicopter to airlift the latter's ailing brother.

A day after Panneerselvam said his New Delhi visit was only to thank Sitharaman for arranging a military air ambulance to shift his brother to Chennai from Madurai, Stalin wondered how a defence helicopter can be provided for use by a private individual.

The DMK leader said Panneerselvam had openly admitted that his visit to the national capital was to thank the defence minister for her help.

"It is a mystery as to how a military helicopter was provided to a private individual. So far this news has not come out and it has now emerged through Panneerselvam himself," Stalin told reporters.

He was responding to questions about Sitharaman's reported refusal to meet Panneerselvam as she was unhappy over the deputy chief minister going public about her gesture.

"Both Nirmala Sitharaman who provided the helicopter and Panneerselvam who used it should resign from their respective posts," Stalin demanded.

Panneerselvam reportedly waited at Sitharaman's office for about half-an-hour yesterday but was denied audience. She, however, met AIADMK Rajya Sabha member V Maitreyan, who had accompanied Panneerselvam.

Before heading for Sitharaman's office, Panneerselvam told reporters it as a "big help" that the defence minister had extended to him, and that he had come to convey his "heartfelt thanks" to her.

When asked about what was seen by many as a snub to him by the defence minister, Panneerselvam told journalists upon his arrival here yesterday, "Our leader Anna (late chief minister and icon of Dravidian politics, CN Annadurai) has taught us that one should have a heart to bear everything."