‘You can’t intimidate…’: Kejriwal slams Center after ED raids on Tamil Nadu minister, his MP son

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raids on several premises of Tamil Nadu Education Minister K Ponmudi and his MP son Gautam Sigamani Pon and alleged that the Center was trying to ‘break parties and intimidate everyone’. is trying His reaction came after the ED on Monday raided several premises of Ponmudi and his son in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining.

In a tweet, Arvind Kejriwal said, “We strongly condemn the ED raid on Tamil Nadu Education Minister. They are trying to split parties and intimidate everyone with ED.”

“But for the ED, the NDA would have no partner left and many BJP leaders would have gone too. You cannot intimidate or control a great nation like India through the ED,” he said.

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We now strongly condemn the ED raid on the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu. They are trying to break parties and scare everyone from ED

But for ED, NDA will be left without any partner and many leaders will be gone in BJP too

You cannot scare or control a great nation like India through ED – Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) 17 July 2023

Ponmudi, notably, is the second minister in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s cabinet to face ED raids after Senthil Balaji, who was arrested in the cash-for-job case after searches last month.

Ponmudi, 72, is the MLA from Tirukkoyilur assembly constituency in Villupuram district, while his son, 49-year-old, is the Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.

ED raids K Ponmudi in illegal mining case

The money laundering case pertains to alleged irregularities when Ponmudi was the state’s mining minister (between 2007 and 2011) and allegations of violation of mine license conditions that caused a loss of around Rs 28 crore to the exchequer.

The TN police had filed a complaint against the minister and those associated with him to investigate these allegations of alleged corruption and in June the Madras High Court refused to stay the trial in the matter after Sigamani filed a relief. Petition was filed. The minister is accused of obtaining mining/quarry licenses for his son and other family members and the licensees are accused of excavating red sand in excess of the permissible limit.

The High Court said that there is ground to believe that the petitioner has committed an offense and hence the trial cannot be stayed.

MK Stalin mocks ED

CM MK Stalin mocked the central agency for being involved in ‘election campaign’.

The DMK president said, “With regard to Tamil Nadu, Governor RN Ravi is already campaigning for us and now, the ED has joined the (polling venue) and I think the election work will be easier for us.”

On the ED raids, he said, “DMK is not worried at all.”

“The coming together of opposition parties has irritated the BJP and the ED’s searches reflected this. The agency’s raids were a ‘strategy to divert attention’ from the ‘objective’ of the opposition meetings, which took place for the first time last month in Patna and now Will happen in Bengaluru. And later in other states,” Stalin alleged.

He said that those who are watching all this will give a befitting reply in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the ED raids

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also condemned the ED raids and said, “It has become a predictable script of the Modi government to intimidate and divide the opposition.”

On his official Twitter account, he further said that surprisingly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ‘suddenly’ woken up to the need for an alliance of ideologically opposite parties.

“All like-minded parties are united against the vendetta politics of the Modi government and will not be cowed down by these cowardly tactics to crush democracy,” Kharge said.

Just before our important opposition meeting, we hear from Tamil Nadu Education Minister Dr. K.K. Condemn the ED raid against Ponmudi.

This has become the predictable script of the Modi government to intimidate and divide the opposition.

It is surprising that BJP has suddenly woken up to its need… – Mallikarjun Kharge (@karge) 17 July 2023