BJP state president Annamalai has said that when the National Democratic Alliance comes to power in Tamil Nadu in 2026, among the corrupt DMK ministers who will go to jail, Commission Gandhi will be the first person to go to jail.
In a statement he issued regarding this,
Minister Commission Gandhi has been committing corruption every year in the free cotton dhoti saree scheme provided in the Pongal package. Last year, the people were cheated by buying less cotton yarn, which is sold at up to ₹320 per kg, and more polyester yarn, which is available at half the price, ₹160, to make dhoti. On behalf of the Tamil Nadu BJP, we conducted an investigation at the Textile Research Center in Coimbatore and found that 78 percent of the dhoti given to the people was polyester and only 22 percent was cotton, revealing a huge amount of corruption in the cost of production.
On July 11, 2024, the Tamil Nadu Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Department officials met me at the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters and asked me for explanations regarding this corruption allegation. Further, as requested by the officials, the dhoti that was inspected was handed over to the Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Vigilance on July 13.
Why has no Tamil Nadu Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Directorate taken any action regarding this corruption complaint till date?
This year too, in the free dhoti provided to the public in the Pongal package, the amount of cotton yarn used was reduced and cheaper polyester yarn was used instead.
Following this, the Director of the Tamil Nadu Government Handlooms Department, IAS officer Mr. Shanmugasundaram, returned about 20 lakh dhoti that were not selected in the quality inspection to the respective cooperative societies. He asked them to send the same number of dhoti of the prescribed quality to the government procurement warehouse. He sent a memorandum on December 3, 2024.
Since the cooperative societies did not take any action to send quality dhotis, again. On 06.02.2025, he informed through a quick memorandum that if the dhotis of the prescribed quality are not sent to the government procurement warehouse, compensation action will be taken and production plans will not be provided to these societies in the future.
However, Minister Gandhi, who is ingeniously looting public money through his proxy companies in the name of cooperative societies, came to know that IAS officer Mr. Shanmugasundaram was an obstacle to his corruption, and in the next two days, yesterday, he was transferred from the handloom sector.
Even though the mega corruption in the handloom sector was discovered last year, if the Chief Minister continues to make him continue as a minister in the same sector, does that mean that the share of the corruption committed by the minister also goes to the Chief Minister? Do your job properly. The fact that a government official who exposed corruption was transferred within two days confirms that? Isn’t it shameful to run a government like this?
Minister Gandhi, who steals from the free dhoti and saree provided to the poor and simple people every year, should no longer remain as the Handloom Minister. Chief Minister Stalin has insisted that he should be dismissed immediately.
.In 2026, when the National Democratic Alliance comes to power in Tamil Nadu, Gandhi will be the first corrupt DMK minister to go to jail, Annamalai has said.
