Yesterday's IT raids unearthed Rs 150 crore + 100 kg gold from contractors linked to Palaniswami and have made it untenable for him to continue...

DMK leader M.K. Stalin demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami after extensive Income Tax searches at properties linked to his close associates unearthed over 150 crore rupees in unaccounted cash and more than 100 kilograms of gold. Stalin asserted that such staggering recoveries from highway contractors closely affiliated with the Chief Minister made his continuation in high constitutional office utterly untenable and morally unjustifiable.

Questioning Palaniswami's prolonged silence over the explosive seizures, Stalin pointed out that the implicated highway firms had received multi-thousand crore contracts directly from the department overseen by the Chief Minister himself. The massive accumulation of illicit wealth by favored contractors provided concrete proof of institutionalized kickbacks and tender manipulations at the highest levels of the state government. Stalin emphasized that maintaining executive silence in the face of incriminating evidence represents an admission of complicity.

Stalin insisted that an impartial, independent judicial inquiry is impossible as long as Palaniswami remains in power, given his ability to influence state administrative machinery. He reiterated that the DMK will persistently demand full legal accountability and the recovery of plundered public funds.