Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin condemned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the residence and office of state Minister Senthil Balaji on Tuesday and said that the BJP was indulging in 'backdoor intimidation'. The CM also said that people are watching the 'intimidation politics'.
On Tuesday, ED started to raid the residence of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji as part of a money laundering investigation. Currently, raids are underway in Chennai, Karur and other places.
Against this backdrop, TN CM Stalin released a press note condemning the raids. He said, "BJP is indulging in backdoor intimidation of those it is unable to face politically. People are watching BJP's intimidation politics."
Stalin, as per ABP Nadu, said, "The BJP using Central probe agencies will take revenge against those opposing them. This is the only way they know. There are several examples of this across the states."
The CM also said that there was no clarity on why raids were conducted at the office of the Minister at the Secretariat.
He said: "In this scenario, the ED raided the office of the Minister at the Secretariat on Tuesday. However, it is still unclear on the necessity to conduct searches at the Secretariat. It appears like they want to show or threaten that raids can be conducted anywhere."
In May, the Income Tax department conducted marathon raids at the residences of Senthil Balaji's associates, including some contractors. Before the search, the I-T officials were manhandled and physically assaulted leading to the arrest of several people closely connected to his brother, Ashok.