Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi left from Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Chennai after over 8 hours of questioning. Later, ED asked TN Minister Ponmudi to be present at the agency office at 4 pm on Tuesday. The questioning was conducted after a 13-hour raid at the residence of the Minister by ED.
DMK leader A Saravanan said that probably BJP and RSS thought that by making a search and seizure they can have a dent on the opposition meet underway in Bengaluru.
On Tuesday, DMK leader A Saravanan said, ”Our leader MK Stalin has said that ED and Governor RN Ravi are both campaigning for the DMK in the state, please let them continue doing what they are doing. It'll be very helpful for us in the 2024 elections. The more they (BJP) try to attack the opposition by using institutions like ED, the resolve of the opposition parties is going to go higher. The BJP is going to be thrown out in 2024."
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Ponmudi represents the Villupuram district's Tirukkoyilur Assembly seat, and his son Sigamani represents the Kallakurichi constituency. Ponmudi is alleged to have done anomalies during his stint as state mining minister (between 2007 and 2011), when there were allegations of violations of quarry license regulations, resulting in a loss to the exchequer of around Rs 28 crore.
Earlier, ED took a similar move against Senthil Balaji in Chief Minister M K Stalin's cabinet. The ED arrested Transport Minister Senthil Balaji in an alleged cash-for-jobs-related money laundering case. The move against Balaji has been condemned by Stalin and the DMK as "intimidation politics" by the Centre.