Mallikarjun Kharge condemns Tamil Nadu minister’s arrest

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NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday condemned the late-night arrest of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji by the ED.

“This is nothing but political harassment and vendetta by the Modi government against those opposed to it. None of us in the Opposition will be intimidated by such brazen moves,” Kharge said in a statement.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Balaji after a long session of questioning in connection with a money-laundering case.

The ED sleuths on Tuesday raided the premises linked to Balaji and questioned him in the case that pertains to allegations when he was the transport minister during the AIADMK-led government from 2011 to 2015 before he switched to the DMK. The action came months after the Supreme Court allowed a police and ED probe into an alleged cash-for-jobs scam against him.

On Tuesday night, the minister was admitted to the ICU of a government hospital in Chennai after he complained of discomfort in chest.