No reason for Centre to intervene in Tamil Nadu issue: MoS Kiren Rijiju

The central government will not interfere in the political developments in Tamil Nadu as it is an internal matter of the state, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said on Monday.

“This is an internal matter of AIADMK. There is no question of the central government intervening as we have no locus standi,” the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Rijiju said if Tamil Nadu goes into a situation where the intervention is required in terms of constitutional machinery to be maintained, the central government will act only then.

“This is a political matter and in this kind of political situation, the central government cannot intervene,” he said.

“It comes under the state affairs. Why should the central government interfere there. There is no reason. The matter is an internal matter between the various groups or the MLAs of the AIADMK,” he said.

With no solution in sight for government formation in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK has asserted that a majority of its MLAs are behind General Secretary V K Sasikala.

Party spokesperson Vaigai Chelvan said Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had the support of seven MLAs and cannot, therefore, prove his majority in the Assembly in the event of a floor test.

However, six more AIADMK MPs had joined Panneerselvam on Sunday, taking the number of parliamentarians in his favour to 11.

When asked about the Centre’s response to the seizure of counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes from the border in the past month, Rijiju said the central government was serious on the issue and would act accordingly.

“If there is any movement of fake currency, then this government is not like the previous government. We will act in a way that its results are shown. We are serious about the issue, and will take such a step to prevent this,” he said.

The central security agencies and police reportedly intercepted a few consignments of counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes between December 2016 and January 2017 from areas near Malda in West Bengal.

On February 8, West Bengal Police arrested a youth with 40 fake Rs 2,000 notes from Murshidabad district, which is termed as the biggest such haul from the porous Indo-Bangla border region post demonetisation.