Chennai: While the opposition parties in the State demanded his resignation in the wake of the Madras high court’s Thursday order directing a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore Gutkha scam, State Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar claimed he had “nothing to hide” and said it’s the opposition parties' job to level allegations.
Reacting to the verdict and opposition charge as well, Vijayabaskar, said the accusations and charges were generally levelled “against those in public life.” “It is the job of the opposition to level allegations. Madiyil ganamillai, vazhiyil bayamaillai, (nothing to hide, so (I have) nothing to fear about),” he said quoting a Tamil proverb, while speaking to reporters here.
Supporting his colleague, State Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said action could be taken only if the charges are proved. “Anyone can make allegations against anyone. But they need to prove it beyond doubt,” Mr. Jayakumar said and contended that Dr. Vijayabaskar need not resign as the charges against him were not proved.
However, DMK working president M. K. Stalin asserted that the moment doubts were raised about the involvement of the Health Minister and DGP, they were not qualified to hold their posts. “It will only be proper for the Minister to resign from the post,” he added.
PMK youth wing leader and former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss went a step ahead and sought the resignation of the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Welcoming the High Court order, Anbumani demanded the resignation of Dr. Vijayabaskar and the DGP.
The court ordering a CBI probe into the scam clearly showed that it lacked faith in the State government. Since there was a possibility of those in power obstructing the probe, the Palaniswami government should immediately resign to pave way for a free and fair investigation, he alleged.
