AIADMK delegation meets Jaitley, demands money for TN

New Delhi : A delegation of AIADMK leaders, belonging to the recently merged faction, today met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and sought release of pending funds to Tamil Nadu. They, however, denied discussion with Jaitley on the political developments taking place in the state.

Led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, the delegation include Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan, state ministers P Thangamani, D Jayakumar and C V Shanmugam. “There are funds pending up to Rs 17,000 crore for the state and we have come to ask for it,” he said. Thambidurai, who was a supporter of Sasikala camp before the two factions merged, also said there was no crisis in the ruling party and the confidence motion which the DMK was pushing for was unnecessary.

“There is no division and all the groups in the party are united. In this case, there is no necessity for this confidence vote now as sought by DMK,” he said, adding that DMK had all the rights to meet the President of India. A delegation of DMK leaders are seeking appointment to meet the President Ram Nath Kovind to apprise him about the political developments and seek a confidence vote in TN Assembly as they allege the state governor C Vidyasagar Rao was sitting on it.

Earlier, the AIADMK leaders met Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.