DMK general secretary and Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan on Thursday said that pressure had been exerted on Central agencies to arrest candidates announced by the DMK in a bid to prevent them from contesting in the Lok Sabha election.
Addressing journalists after inaugurating the DMK party office in Gudiyatham town for election work, Mr. Duraimurugan said that some “higher-ups” had informed him about this.
“We [the DMK] are not worried about such pressures and tactics,” he said, responding to a query on the recent searches by the Income Tax [I-T] Department at the premises of a DMK functionary in Vellore ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
A few days ago, sleuths of the Department had searched the office of N. Ashokan, district president, HR&CE, in Vellore town.
It may be recalled that DMK MP and son of Mr. Duraimurugan, D.M. Kathir Anand, is facing charges of tax evasion after cash to the tune of ₹11.48 crore had allegedly been seized from locations linked to him during the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Mr. Anand is the DMK’s candidate for the Vellore constituency for this Lok Sabha election too.
Meanwhile, officials from Tirupattur district’s special crime cell searched the house of a DMK functionary in Ambur town on Thursday.
Asked about the Opposition’s allegations that the ruling party had not fulfilled its promises made for the 2021 Assembly election, the Water Resources Minister said they had always been speaking in such a manner.
