Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday demanded that Union Fertiliser Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam nominee M K Alagiri should be sacked in connection with the alleged fertiliser subsidy scam.
"According to reports, the fertiliser companies made a windfall profit of nearly Rs 1,000 crore because of the fertiliser ministry headed by DMK chief M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri. In the name of subsidy to farmers, government money has been looted and the central government and the farmers have lost Rs 1,000 crore," she said in a statement.
Jayalalithaa, who misses no opportunity to target her arch rival Karunanidhi's family, demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drop Alagiri from the ministry, order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the issue and take action against the guilty.
She said Alagiri had failed to act on Minister of State for Fertiliser Srikant Jena's note alerting him about the irregularities and asking him to prevent the loss of Rs 1,000 crore to the government and the farmers.
Jayalalithaa said she had written to Dr Singh on June 26 seeking a change in the Centre's fertiliser policy, but no action was taken.
"There is a feeling among the people that by not taking any action on her letter and because of Alagiri not acting on Jena's letter, that the nutrient based subsidy is meant for corruption," Jayalalithaa said.
Questioning Alagiri's silence on the issue, she said the people were wondering whether his "keeping mum amounts to admission (of corruption)".
