Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday demanded the removal of Union minister M.K. Alagiri from the Union Cabinet in wake of the alleged attack on a poll official by DMK men in his presence. “Our demand for removal of Alagiri is already there and we will reiterate it,” she told reporters here.
Police had registered a case against Mr Alagiri and over 50 DMK workers for allegedly assaulting an assistant election officer in Melur in Madurai district when he videographed their visit to a temple.
The official who had claimed that he was assaulted by DMK men in the presence of Mr Alagiri, son of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, however, later went back on his statement and said he was not roughed up.
“The unearthing of `5.11 crore cash from a bus here and the attack on poll official in Madurai district are only stains of shame to democracy,” Ms Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said.
“Karunanidhi’s outburst shows his frustration,” she said, referring to the Chief Minister’s criticism of the Election Commission for its tough actions, which he said had created an undeclared emergency.
Ms Swaraj said the response to election meetings of BJP in the state was “overhwhelming.” —PTI