After EPS charge on DGP post, Minister S Regupathy says Centre meddling
He was responding to Palaniswami’s criticism that Chief Minister Stalin has not appointed a full-time DGP so as to make electoral gains and that he was “playing with people’s safety.”
minister S Regupathy
CHENNAI: Minister S Regupathy has claimed that the Centre proposed names of officers it preferred for appointment as new Director General of Police for the state but the state government declined, calling it “unacceptable.”
The delay in appointing the new DGP was because of the Union government, he alleged and lashed out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for accusing the state government of keeping the top post vacant “with an eye on next year’s Assembly election.
“Palaniswami appears to have forgotten how long his AIADMK government had ruled the state without a DGP. Now, he is blaming the Chief Minister (MK Stalin) who is fighting for the state’s rights,” the Minister for Natural Resources said.
He was responding to Palaniswami’s criticism that Chief Minister Stalin has not appointed a full-time DGP so as to make electoral gains and that he was “playing with people’s safety.” “The tenure of the Law and
Order DGP in Tamil Nadu ended in August. But the chief minister has not appointed a full-time DGP to maintain law and order, with the aim of appointing a suitable officer who will help during the election,” Palaniswami had said on Wednesday.
The minister claimed that the Union Public Service Commission did not accept the views of the Tamil Nadu government, which is responsible for maintaining law and order in the state, but sent a list names it wanted appointed.
“Since this list was not acceptable to the Tamil Nadu government, the Chief Secretary has written a letter to the UPSC fully explaining the reasons for it. While it has not responded, the leader of the opposition’s reaction seemed like the proverbial saying that the wolf wept because the sheep were getting wet,” Regupathy said in a statement here on Thursday.
“What else can we expect from Palaniswami, who is clinging to his post by giving up the rights of the state during his tenure (as Chief Minister),” the Minister further said.
Regupathy asserted that the issue was not about the Tamil Nadu government appointing the DGP but the Centre attempting to influence, he said and claimed that this amounted to “interference.” At the meeting of the selection panel, the Tamil Nadu government registered its strong objection to the proposal of some names in “violation of rules,” he said.
At present, G Venkataraman is serving as the acting DGP, since the retirement of Shankar Jiwal on August 31.