Tamil Nadu: Senthil Balaji, arrested by ED, resigns as minister

Chennai: : Jailed Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji, who continued to be part of Chief Minister M K Stalin’s cabinet for eight months after his arrest in a money laundering case, resigned from his post on Monday.

The development comes two days before the Madras High Court is set to hear the bail plea of Balaji, who is currently lodged in Puzhal Central prison near here.

Balaji, an influential leader from the western part of the state, was the Electricity and Prohibition Minister before he was stripped of the portfolios after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 for his involvement in a cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as Transport Minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government.

“The minister (Senthil Balaji) has resigned,” a top government source told DH. Efforts to reach Raj Bhavan for a confirmation proved futile.

 Stalin and the DMK continued to back Balaji even though Governor R N Ravi “dismissed” him from the Cabinet on June 29, only to put the decision “in abeyance” a few hours later. The Governor’s contention was that Balaji’s continuance in the Cabinet was “untenable” as he was arrested by the ED, but Stalin told Ravi, in a letter on June 30, that he had no powers to dismiss his ministers.

However, the decision to seek his resignation was taken based on the recent developments like Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court questioning the rationale behind Balaji’s continuance as a Minister without portfolio for eight months.

“This (resignation) had to happen sometime and it has happened now. It was always a matter of when, not if,” a senior DMK leader said, adding that Balaji will continue to hold his posts in the party.  

The timing of Balaji’s resignation is significant as his bail plea is to come up for hearing before justice Venkatesh on February 14. This is Balaji’s second petition before the High Court seeking bail as the trial court continues to deny him bail.

Balaji, who switched over to the DMK from AIADMK in 2018, has been credited for the party’s reversal of fortunes in Western Tamil Nadu in the 2022 civic elections, eight months after the DMK lost majority of seats in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Though Balaji was arrested on June 14, he was immediately rushed to to the Government Omandurar Hospital here after he complained of chest pain. Days later, the minister underwent a by-pass heart surgery at a private hospital on the permission of the High Court and was sent to Puzhal Central prison after the surgery.