OPS creates controversy over claim of Rs
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Chennai: Expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) has courted controversy with his claim that he had given a loan of Rs 2 crore to late Chief Minister J Jayalalitha.
OPS claimed that Jayalalitha had asked for Rs. Rs 2 crore were taken from him and he paid it from the party fund.
“Amma said she was facing many cases and had to make cash payments to some people,” OPS said. He said he repaid the loan within a month.
His claim has drawn a strong reaction from the AIADMK with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) calling OPS’s statement “outrageous”.
OPS reiterated on Wednesday that Jayalalitha had asked for money from the party fund. He said that since he was the treasurer of AIADMK at that time, he gave the money from the party fund and he immediately repaid it. He claimed that this transaction is recorded in the financial documents of the party.
Meanwhile, the tussle between EPS and OPS continues. Both leaders accused the other of wrongdoing and each predicted that the other would soon go to jail.
EPS criticized OPS for making baseless allegations and challenged him to reveal the “secret”.
The AIADMK general secretary said, “He is making baseless allegations against me as he is preparing to go to jail.” He predicted that a case against OPS will soon come up in court and he will be sent to jail. He was reacting to this. OPS claims that if he reveals everything about EPS’s alleged misdeeds during his tenure as Chief Minister, he will be put in jail.
“Panneerselvam acquired property in the name of his family. I know everything because I have been the Chief Minister. He is trying to escape by blaming me. But he can’t,” Epps said.
OPS, who was the deputy chief minister when EPS was the chief minister, had said that if he revealed what happened during the AIADMK rule under EPS, the former chief minister would have to go to Tihar jail.
When media persons pointed out that OPS would face similar allegations of wrongdoings as he was the Deputy Chief Minister at the time, OPS claimed that OPS had misused his special powers as Chief Minister and indulged in wrongdoings.