Today, a delegation of BJP Tamil Nadu leaders will meet with Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi to request an independent forensic audit of the State Finance Minister’s leaked audio tape.

An audio clip alleged to be that of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan has surfaced on social media in which he accuses members of MK Stalin’s family of making more money in one year than they’ve made during their life time.

“Both Udhay and Sabari have realised, they have made more money in one year than they [unclear] entire lives and now it’s getting to be a problem, how to handle it, how to not get caught, how to get payments here.. [unclear] Its all being made gradually? 10 to 20 crores.. assuming we will say 5000 crores.. [unclear]. How can you [unclear] 5000 crores without paying any [unclear]”, the audio clip supposedly of PTR says.

After four days of silence, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan has responded to the audio clip controversy that shocked the ruling DMK due to its scandalous content. PTR described his alleged audio clip as “Malicious”, “Fabricated”, and “Deepfake”.

Citing two alleged ‘technical analysis’ of the clip, PTR said that the audio clip was not authentic. However, BJP President K. Annamalai said that only “DMK IT Wing dimwits” would believe whatever has been said by the DMK Minister.

In light of this, a delegation of BJP Tamil Nadu leaders is scheduled to meet with Governor RN Ravi today (April 23rd) to request an independent forensic audit of the alleged audio clip of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiyagarajan.

In a press release, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai said, “Today, a delegation of leaders from BJP Tamil Nadu will be meeting the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu, Thiru RN Ravi avl seeking an independent forensic audit on the audio file of Tamil Nadu State Finance Minister Thiru PTR Palanivel Thiyagarajan exposing the ill-gotten money amounting to 30,000 Crore through corrupt means by DMK leader & Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru MK Stalin’s son Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin & Son-in-law Thiru Sabareesan.”

According to the press release, “Since the State Finance Minister Thiru PTR Palanivel Thiyagarajan is resting on an argument that this audio is fabricated, we challenge him to produce an audio clip with similar content but instead in my voice. We shall submit both audio samples to a Court monitored investigation and let the investigating agency ascertain the genuine nature of both audio clips. I will submit my voice samples, and we expect the State Finance Minister will also do the same. So, the State Finance Minister should understand that this is too big a case to be brushed under the carpet with weak statements posted as defences.”

Annamalai went on to say that he humbly requests that the State Finance Minister not underestimate the intelligence of the Tamil Nadu people, and that not everyone will believe the fairy tales that he and his partymen float.

Today, leaders from @BJP4TamilNadu will meet the Hon Gov of TN Thiru RN Ravi avargal, requesting an independent forensic audit of the audio tape of the State Finance Minister. pic.twitter.com/h1RWWwc5XO

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) April 23, 2023

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Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan retracted his statement on the amount of money donated to Akshaya Patra by the Raj Bhavan after realizing that quoted incorrect numbers in the Assembly a few days ago.

On 30 March 2023, DMK Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan accused the Governor’s office of financial irregularities during a discussion on grant demand. He said that the Raj Bhavan transferred ₹4 crores to a private NGO Akhsya Patra flouting norms.

PTR said, “Out of the ₹5 crores discretionary allocation in the fiscal year 2019-20, ₹4 crores has been transferred to Akshaya Patra (an NGO providing mid-day meals for school children) in two installments of ₹2 crores in 2019. There is no transparency over how and where the remaining fund of ₹1 crore is parked.”

PTR accused Raj Bhavan of multiple violations in the manner in which funds were transferred to the NGO. “There are two instances of fund transfers — ₹4 crores in 2019-20 and ₹1 crore in 2020-21 — to the Akshaya Patra Foundation. Later on, the scheme itself was shelved. It has proved to be a bad investment and an undemocratic practice,” PTR said in the Assembly.

However, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan had to retract his statement about the amount transferred by Raj Bhavan to Akshaya Patra, as data had suggests otherwise.

The DMK often indulges in disrespecting the Governor post calling him a person who lives in a bungalow at the cost of the State exchequer. PTR himself had taken a jibe on the amount of money spent by different state governments on Governor in which Tamil Nadu topped.

This data is apparently from Frontline…will try to validate

Didn't realize Tamil Nadu was such an outlier in spending on the Governor!

Raises so many questions…. pic.twitter.com/PbXo4LyVoD

— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) December 2, 2022

However, for a change, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said that the DMK holds high regards for the Governor post and accordingly has raised the budgetary allocation for the office of Governor.

Speaking on the resolution criticizing Governor RN Ravi moved by CM MK Stalin in the Assembly, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan on Monday (10 April 2023) said, “After we came to power, owing to our Hon’ble Chief Minister’s deep importance and respect he places on the post of Governor, budgetary allocation for the Governor’s Secretariat has increased from ₹2.41 crore to ₹2.82 crore last year and for this year ₹3.63 crore has been allocated.”

He added that the Governor’s household expenditure which was ₹11.6 crore when they came to power was increased to ₹15.93 crore last year and this year it has been raised to ₹16.69 crore.

He also said that the Discretionary Grant (as mandated by 1937 Finance Code) has increased from ₹1.57 lakhs in 2018-19 to ₹50 lakh in 3 months and thereafter ₹5 crore in provisionally revised estimates.

“I am bound to retract some of the statements I made that day in the House. That day, I said that Akshaya Patra has been twice awarded two crores.”, he said.

He added that the funds from Governor’s discretionary fund were originally transferred to Governor’s household accounts and not Akshaya Patra’s account. He added, “The funds were then transferred to other accounts, including to Akshaya Patra.”

PTR thus admitted to lying in the assembly about the transfer of 4 crores from the Governor’s discretionary fund to Akshaya Patra. However, no major news outlets have reported on how Finance Minister PTR lied before the entire Assembly before retracting it. Instead, they chose to highlight his statements on alleged violations of Finance Code by Raj Bhavan.

I was obliged to correct my previous statement regarding the Governor’s office financing the Akshaya Patra scheme, in response to an Hon’ble member’s queries in the assembly today, based on new information I had discovered.

I wish to reiterate that the Hon’ble Chief Minister… pic.twitter.com/OgtYCqK859

— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 11, 2023

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The DMK government’s announcement of a ₹7000 crore allocation in the budget 2023-24 for the Monthly Assistance Scheme For Women has sparked outrage from all sides, as the money will not be enough to fulfill the DMK government’s election promise of providing assistance to all 2.2 crore ration cards.

The DMK government in Tamil Nadu said that it will roll out the scheme of providing ‘rightful money’ of ₹1,000 per month to women heads of “eligible households” from 15 September 2023, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dravidian stalwart and DMK founder CN Annadurai.

“I am delighted to announce that, beginning with the ensuing fiscal year, women heads of eligible households will receive ₹1,000 per month. The program will greatly benefit women who are the heads of households who have been negatively impacted by the Union Government’s sharp increase in cooking gas prices as well as the overall price increase,” PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said.

However, the phrase “eligible household” has drawn criticism from a few quarters because the DMK  during the election campaign had promised to give “rightful money” to ever women head of the household.

The Tamil Nadu government will spend a total of ₹7000 crore, or ₹1000 crore per month, between September 2023 and March 2024. This means that if ₹1000 crore is spent each month, the government can only pay 1 crore people. This will result in more than 50% of women heads of families in Tamil Nadu being left out of the scheme.

However, MK Stalin while being in the opposition in 2021, stated that all women in Tamil Nadu with ration cards would be given “rightful money” of ₹1000 per month. Social media is now awash with the viral video of MK Stalin promising all the women heads of Tamil Nadu ₹1000 per month.

வொர்ஸ்ட் ரா நூவு pic.twitter.com/184FxDaA74

— Indhavaainko (இந்தாவாய்ங்கோ) (@indhavaainko) March 20, 2023

அனைவருக்கும்னா கட்சி உறுப்பினர் அனைவருக்கும்னு அர்த்தமா இருக்குமோ ? இல்ல இவர்கள் கொடுப்பது போக மீதி இருப்பவர்களை குடும்பதலைவிகளாக இந்த அரசு மதிக்கவில்லையோ ?#TNBudget2023 pic.twitter.com/yCwn8ZrYmR

— Selva Kumar (@Selvakumar_IN) March 20, 2023

Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan estimates that the TASMAC, the Tamil Nadu government’s liquor sales company, will see revenue of ₹50,000 crore, an increase of ₹5000 crores from the previous fiscal year.

Increasing TASMAC sales will have severe social cost like alcoholism, weakened labour force, domestic abuse, rising crime rates and accidents. Funding the ₹1000 per month scheme for women household heads by increasing TASMAC sales, is only going to make matters worse for women opine critics.

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