No slave, no master, Madurai West MLA Sellur Raju rebuts talks of toeing RSS line

MADURAI: AIADMK is neither a master nor a slave to anyone, said the party’s Madurai West MLA Sellur K Raju on Thursday, reacting to the remark made by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan.

The former minister’s rebuttal comes after the BJP leader said that there was nothing wrong with RSS steering the AIADMK. Speaking to reporters in Madurai, Raju stated that the AIADMK has its own ideology and there is no compromise on it.

Furthermore, he criticised the ruling DMK for the Madurai Corporation property tax scam, which led to the arrest of 17 individuals, including Pon Vasanth, the husband of Mayor Indrani. The AIADMK councillors would boycott the Corporation council meeting until the Mayor’s dismissal, the former minister said.

He stated that it was the AIADMK that exposed the scam, and the issue was subsequently taken up legally to punish the culprits. While those involved in the fraud were forced to resign from their positions, the government remains silent about the Mayor, who has become the embodiment of corruption, Raju said.

He wondered how the government could allow such a Mayor to continue in office. If the Mayor were permitted to continue in her position, her husband would again wield all the power of her office, the former minister said.

In such a situation, he said it won’t be good for the AIADMK councillors to attend the council meeting scheduled on Friday. The Mayor should take full responsibility for the property tax scam and step down from her post, he said.

Even as the probe is underway, a loss of Rs 28.21 crore has been reported so far. Citing these, Raju said if the ruling DMK did not dismiss the Madurai Mayor, it would bring themselves into disrepute.