Was offered Rs 30 crore by AIADMK, alleges TVK MLA Mustafa

MADURAI: Even before the police have finished investigation into the alleged poaching of ruling party MLAs, TVK’s Madurai Central MLA Madhar Badhurudeen, popularly known as Mustafa, alleged that AIADMK functionaries from Madurai had contacted him over phone and offered him up to Rs 30 crore to vote against the government in a no-confidence motion.

“They said, ‘Take Rs 15 crore now, and when a no-confidence vote is brought, we will offer the Rs 15 crore then,’” he claimed. The MLA said he had informed the party leadership.

Separately, senior TVK leader and Minister R Nirmalkumar accused the opposition DMK and the AIADMK of attempting to poach the ruling party legislators ahead of the upcoming bypolls.

Addressing reporters in Madurai, he said the two Dravidian parties had thousands of crores to spend, and alleged that offers ranging from Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore were being made to MLA. Hawala money trails linked to these operations were already surfacing in Bengaluru, he alleged.

The AIADMK rejected the allegations, dismissing the charge as “baseless” and warning ministers and legislators of legal action if they continued to make “irresponsible statements”.

Former minister and senior AIADMK leader RB Udhayakumar said Nirmalkumar and TVK legislators must immediately stop dragging the AIADMK’s name into the issue to divert attention from their own corruption. He described the minister’s charge that the DMK and AIADMK were conspiring to topple the TVK government as baseless and politically motivated. Mustafa, he said, was “making up stories”.

He also alleged that the minister had signed agreements to purchase electricity at Rs 37 and Rs 41.50 per unit, while the Kerala government bought power at Rs 12.50 per unit.

Instead of indulging in “political drama” through baseless allegations, ministers and legislators should focus on resolving people’s problems, Udhayakumar said. The AIADMK, founded to fight corruption, knows how to meet the people democratically and come to power, and has no need to seek political gains through backdoor methods, he added.