Raid on TN bureaucrat, a law enforcement issue
The AIADMK presidium chairman E Madhusudhan has clearly over-reacted to the Income Tax department's raid on the now sacked Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao. He has claimed that the action was a “conspiracy” with a “motive” by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Government at the Centre. There is not an iota of evidence to suggest either the Government or the party had triggered the raid at the Chief Secretary's residence and office. The Income Tax department does not on whim and fancy of a third party, conduct raid and search operations; it does a great deal of homework beforehand and only then moves in. The same appears to have been the case here — there have been accusations of tax evasions and more against some of his family members and his role has come under a cloud — and it's only coincidental that the action happened barely two weeks after J Jayalalithaa passed away. For senior AIADMK leaders to conclude that the BJP had orchestrated the raid to pressure the party to fall in line (meaning, align with it), is laughable. There are political ways to arrive at such arrangements. From all accounts, incumbent Chief O Panneerselvam and prominent AIADMK leader Sasikala Natarajan have not had a sour relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Only the other day, the Chief Minister had met the Prime Minister during his recent visit to Delhi.
On her part, Sasikala had conveyed to the Prime Minister her appreciation of his presence in Chennai for Jayalalithaa's funeral and of his deeply expressed sorrow. In any case, it is too early for the talk of an alignment; the State Assembly election is far away, and the AIADMK as well as the NDA regime need not hurry into coalition talks — assuming they are open to the idea. As for cooperating with the Centre on issues of national importance, surely the AIADMK would back the Union Government in those matters. It beats reason why the BJP or the Government it leads would by design order a raid and risk the AIADMK's alienation just when there is scope for working together. Therefore, those looking for ulterior motives must stop doing so and allow the law enforcement agencies do their job. If the Income Tax department has blundered, surely the courts will point that out in the course of time.
There is no need for politics. This applies to the opposition parties, including the DMK as it does to the ruling AIADMK. DMK leader MK Stalin has rightly said the action had brought “disrepute” to the State. But if he is suggesting that the disrepute was engineered, he is wrong on available material. The raid was unprecedented; according to reports, it is the first time that an incumbent Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu has been raided by the tax authorities. But what comes as a surprise is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's condemnation of the raid. Pray, what has she got to do with itIJ