Tamil Nadu: Ponmudy’s conviction adds to list of Stalin’s woes

Chennai: K Ponmudy’s conviction by the Madras High Court in a disproportionate assets (DA) case adds to the long list of woes of Chief Minister M K Stalin, whose government is under severe criticism for its poor handling of the floods that hit several parts of Tamil Nadu. 

The verdict also snatches a key weapon from the DMK’s arsenal against AIADMK – for long, the ruling party had mocked the principal Opposition on the issue of its leader J Jayalalithaa’s conviction in a corruption case, while maintaining that corruption charges can only be levelled against its leaders but can never be proved in a court of law. 

And with Ponmudy’s conviction, the DMK cannot claim the high moral ground, albeit for now, on the issue of corruption. The conviction also comes close on the heels of V Senthil Balaji, who still continues as a minister without a portfolio, being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. He has been in jail since June of this year.

With Lok Sabha elections just a few months away, the chief minister will now face questions on corruption charges faced by his senior cabinet colleagues – the Madras High Court has suo motu taken up the acquittal of two ministers in DA cases by trial courts in a “hasty manner” – even as he calls the raids against party leaders by Central agencies as “political vendetta.”

Two ministers and a senior MP are already under the scanner of the ED and income tax department, and there is intense speculation that the raids could intensify as elections near. In fact, DMK general secretary Durai Murugan did tell party cadres to take a pledge “not to tip off” Central agencies about ministers and senior leaders at a meeting attended by Stalin, exposing the fear within the party about the potential raids. 

Add to this the widespread criticism from people in Chennai and its neighbouring districts and Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi on the way his government handled the relief and rehabilitation work post heavy rains and subsequent floods, besides taking precautionary measures. Ministers, officials, and corporators faced protests and intense questioning from people in Chennai for help not reaching them on time. 

Even before the rains hit, the DMK dispensation was at pains to explain why it left out almost half of the 2.24 crore families in the state from the monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 scheme for women. 

The challenges come just months before the Lok Sabha polls, in which the DMK has set an ambitious target of winning all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. The ruling party hopes that the alliance's arithmetic and anti-BJP sentiments will pull the elections in its favour, but it remains to be seen whether corruption and rain will impact the DMK’s prospects. 

“Ponmudy’s conviction is a major setback to the DMK. How much of this is going to impact the election is to be seen. People don’t merely vote on the administrative capabilities of a government, as several factors come into play. However, it is a good development that politicians get convicted for corruption, as it will send a signal that comes under greater scrutiny,” Prof Ramu Manivannan said. 

Senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh said Ponmudy’s conviction would add huge decibels to BJP chief K Annamalai’s ‘dump the corrupt Dravidian parties’ slogan, but the saffron party should work towards building the party infrastructure to begin with. To this, Prof Manivannan said that while the recent developments certainly open up space for the BJP, they won’t result in anything dramatic for the saffron party.