The June 14 arrest of former Tamil Nadu electricity and prohibition and excise minister Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering and cash-for-jobs case poses fresh challenges to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who has volubly deplored Balaji’s arrest, terming it “vindictive politics” by the BJP-ruled Centre, withdrew the general consent for CBI probes in Tamil Nadu the same day. From now on, the central probe agency has to obtain permission from the state government before starting anand in its contest for supremacy with the BJP in the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu.
