Chennai: Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin’s memorandum to Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao charging Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s government with bribing AIADMK MLAs to vote for his confidence motion has been sent to Speaker P. Dhanapal and Chief Secretary Girija Vaidhyanathan ‘for appropriate action’.
A Raj Bhavan communiqué here said as per the direction of the Governor, a copy of the memorandum and the CD submitted by Stalin were referred to the Speaker and CS. The press release also noted that the requests by Stalin in the memorandum are matters already pending before the Madras HC of Madras. When the DMK raised the issue in the Assembly, the Spea-ker had refused permission stating that the matter is pending before HC.
The Governor’s action putting the issue back to the Speaker and the state government comes as a disappointment for the DMK. Stalin had submitted the memorandum on June 17 over the revelations of MLAs S.S. Saravanan and Kanagaraj in the ‘sting operation’ conducted by two TV channels and telecase in the visual media.
The DMK had requested the Governor to intervene and order a fresh vote of confidence and direct an investigation by the CBI into the offence under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 as well as an investigation by the directorate of revenue of intelligence or the enforcement directorate to unearth the money trail and investigate the offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
