Union minister's charge on TN becoming extremist camp a lie: Panneerselvam

"It is a blatant lie," he said answering questions from reporters here on Radhakrishnan's remark yesterday.

He also asserted that Tamil Nadu was a "haven" of peace.

"In the whole of India, it is in Tamil Nadu where the law and order situation is good. The state is a haven of peace and if incidents in other states are compared, one will be able to understand it (the situation)," Panneerselvam said.

Speaking at a meeting in Coimbatore yesterday to pay homage to the victims of the 1998 serial bomb blasts, Radhakrishnan said Tamil Nadu was "becoming the camp and training centre" for extremists.

"Tamil Nadu is no longer a peaceful state... Naxalites, Maoists, Tamil extremists and Islamic terrorists have joined hands against the administration, which was evident during the jallikkattu agitation last year," the Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping alleged.

Extremist elements were engaged in making plans for next 10 to 20 years, Radhakrishnan said, adding it was not clear if the government in Tamil Nadu knew this.

Panneerselvam also targeted the Centre over the scaling down of the devolution of tax proceeds to Tamil Nadu.

He said the Union government had been been doing this by saying Tamil Nadu was a developed state, and added that it was a "wrong economic premise".

He said the 15th Finance Commission should devolve "appropriate and a fair share of tax proceeds" for the state.

The deputy chief minister sounded philosophical when reporters asked him to comment on the Palaniswami-led government completing a year in office and whether he regretted having stepped down as chief minister.

"What did we bring to lose," he replied, with a reference from the Bhagavad Gita.

K Palaniswami, an AIADMK strongman from the Western Kongu region, became the chief minister after Panneerselvam's revolt last February against the late J Jayalalithaa's aide, V K Sasikala.

Just before Sasikala went to jail in a disproportionate assets case in February 2017, she had led a party meet in which Palaniswami was elected legislature party leader paving the way for him to become the state chief minister.

In August last year, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam came together, ousting Sasikala and her relative, TTV Dinakaran, from the party.