DMK, BJP approach poll panel as Tamil Nadu election battle heats up

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam separately approached the Election Commission of India, as the intensity of the campaign for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, on April 6, increased.

The DMK wrote to the Election Commission after income tax officials on Friday raided premises belonging to its president MK Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai and son-in-law Sabareesan, including their residence in Neelankarai, Chennai. It said in the letter that the tax department was being used as a “sword” by and is a “pawn” in the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP, which is an ally of the state’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking the disqualification of M K Stalin’s son and DMK candidate from Chennai’s Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency, Udhayanidhi Stalin for his comment that late union ministers Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj died due to pressure exerted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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“Udhayanidhi’s comments are ridiculous, defamatory and libellous in nature slandering the office of the Prime Minister”, said BJP’s general secretary Karu Nagarajan in his letter to the ECI.

Sabareesan keeps a low profile but is known to wield power behind the scenes and is a key decision maker in the DMK. “Searches are still going on at four places. Since it is a sensitive raid, we do not want to disclose details,” said an IT official on condition of anonymity.

“The entire intention of the AIADMK-BJP alliance is to somehow or other tarnish the image of DMK and therefore sensing that there is a massive victory for DMK in the ensuing elections, now the officials of the Income Tax department are misused by the ruling BJP party…,” stated the letter written to the Election Commission by DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathi to the ECI.

Stalin himself, campaigning in Ariyalur district, said the DMK could not be scared by such raids. “I heard that 30 tax officials have entered my daughter’s house and there are hundreds of policemen. Let me tell Prime Minister Modi one thing. We are not the AIADMK [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra] Kazhagam] to be afraid... I am M K Stalin, I have seen MISA [Maintenance of Internal Security Act] and Emergency itself,” said Stalin, referring to the law that gave sweeping powers to the government during the state of emergency in the 1970s. Stalin was among those detained under MISA.

Stalin also wrote to his party cadre urging them not to be distracted by the raids and to continue to focus on their work. Also on Friday, Udhayanidhi Stalin mentioned his address at a meeting and dared the tax department to raid him. “They are raiding my younger sister today...My address is 25/9, Cenotaph Road, Chittaranjan Salai, Chennai. If you have guts, come to my house .”

The tax department also conducted raids at DMK’s Anna Nagar candidate M K Mohan’s house and at the residence of Karur candidate Senthil Balaji.

Last month, the tax department similary raided premises belonging to senior DMK leader and candidate E V Velu.

The BJP denied allegations of using the IT department. “The tax department operates on its own, based on the information it gets,” said BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy. “The BJP and the central government are not involved. ”

Udayinidhi Stalin’s comments on Swaraj and Jaitley were made in response to PM Narendra Modi’s criticism against him. On Tuesday, Modi campaigned in Dharapuram for BJP’s state chief L Murugan where he had said, “The uncrowned prince (Udhayanidhi) has sidelined several leaders in the DMK to come up.”

On Wednesday, Udhayanidhi arrived in Dharapuram to campaign and read out a list of the names of BJP leaders who he alleged that Modi had sidelined. “From being the CM of Gujarat, Modi successfully sidelined several senior leaders like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Yashwant Sinha left the party, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley died unable to handle the pressure and torture of Modi.”

On Thursday, Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj took to Twitter and tagged the DMK’s youth wing leader’s handle to criticise his remarks. “...please do not use my Mother’s memory for your poll propaganda. Your statements are false!,” she tweeted adding that Modi had stood by her family . Arun Jaitley’s daughter Sonia Jaitley also tweeted a similar message saying, “...I know there is election pressure, but I won’t stay silent when you lie and disrespect my father’s memory.”

“Dad @arunjaitley & Shri @narendramodi ji shared a special bond that was beyond politics. I pray you are lucky enough to know such friendship...,” she tweeted

The ruling AIADMK-BJP combine has targeted the DMK for dynastic politics especially after Udhayanidhi Stalin was given a ticket to contest from his grandfather’s borough in Chennai’s Chepauk. Home minister Amit Shah on Thursday posed a question at a rally asking if the electorate wanted growth in Tamil Nadu or growth for Udhayanidhi Stalin. In response, Udayainidhi asked at a meeting how Shah’s son Jay Shah became the secretary of the Board of Control of Cricket (BCCI) at the age of 32. “He doesn’t even know how to play cricket.”

With campaigning expected to peak over the weekend, analysts expect more salvos from both sides.