Offered crores, cabinet posts, says Tamil Nadu IUML MLA; triggers TVK-DMK spat over horsetrading

CHENNAI: IUML MLA Syed Farooq Basha has claimed that he and party colleague AM Shahjahan, now a minister, were offered crores of rupees and cabinet berths after the Assembly elections yielded a hung House.

Addressing an IUML meeting in Tiruvannamalai, the Vaniyambadi MLA alleged that two muftis approached them after the Assembly elections with cash and a letterhead, asking them to pick ministerial portfolios.

“They came looking for Shahjahan and me, brought crores of rupees and said they would give us ministerial posts if we signed. We are not people who bow to crores; we stand by our principles,” Basha said, adding they were specifically offered the Local Administration and Transport portfolios.
“We told them Allah is the one who can give us a position. We were not prepared to compromise our principles for their posts and sent them away,” he said.

Shahjahan was subsequently inducted into the Vijay cabinet, while the party leadership had also sought a cabinet position for Basha.

Basha’s remarks have triggered an intense war of words between the DMK and TVK on social media, with the IT wings of both parties accusing each other of making the offer.