Tamil Nadu: 'TRB Rajaa's Appointment As Industries Minister Is Conflict Of Interest'; 'TR Baalu Has Been Accused Of Corruption And Misuse Of Power Earlier' Says Annamalai

At a press meet today (12 May), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai said that the appointment of senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader TR Baalu’s son TRB Rajaa as the Industries Minister is a case of conflict of interest because his family owns a large number of industries in a variety of sectors.

He then went on to list some of them like Kings India Power Corp, Meenam Fisheries, Aristo Telemedia etc and said that the Dravidian model of governance is a form of ‘fork to market control’, wherein DMK politicians control everything from production to distribution.

Regarding the defamation case filed by Baalu this morning, he said that if Baalu didn’t own shares in certain companies he could have denied it.

Further, he said that Baalu has been accused of corruption and misuse of power earlier too.

To support his statement, he quoted a reply given by Baalu to a question raised by V Maitreyan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Parliament in 2008.

Maitreyan had questioned Baalu about the supply of gas at a cheaper rate to a company owned by Baalu's family.

Annamalai said that Baalu had then said that he had requested the petroleum minister to supply gas at a cheaper rate to the company at the request of employees and shareholders to avoid closure of the company.

He then said that in 2009, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly refused to take Baalu into his Cabinet due to corruption charges against him during his previous tenure between 2004-09.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: TR Baalu Files Defamation Case Against Annamalai; RS Bharathi Says 'Confident That He Would Be Sentenced'