Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K.S. Alagiri on Tuesday alleged that the searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate at the official chamber of Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji in the Secretariat; his residence in Chennai; and at various locations in Karur district were only to intimidate Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his government.
He also urged the Chief Minister to go on a hunger strike if the searches continued.
In a video message on Tuesday, Mr. Alagiri said the searches were against the federal set up. “If there is a complaint from Tamil Nadu against Union Ministers, can the Tamil Nadu police or Intelligence search their residences in New Delhi? Union and States have certain powers. If one supersedes the other, then federal set up will be disturbed. If there are any doubts about over the functioning of the Electricity Minister, you could approach the Chief Minister or ask him to sack him. But, it is not right to treat the States as slaves,” he said.
He said while he did not want the Centre to sit back when there was wrongdoing, the Chief Minister should be consulted in such matters. “It is not right to interfere with the State’s rights and powers, and intimidate them,” he said.
