Senthil Balaji to undergo surgery tomorrow, says TN health minister

Senthil Balaji to undergo surgery tomorrow, says TN health ministerJune 20, 2023Chennai, June 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said that the arrested state minister, Senthil Balaji will undergo a surgery on June 21, Wednesday.Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a cash-for-job scam and is remanded in judicial custody. However, after he complained of chest pain and uneasiness, a coronary angiogram was conducted on the minister during which it was found that he had three blocks in the coronary artery.Talking to reporters, Ma Subramanian said that as the doctors have recommended immediate surgery, the procedure will be conducted tomorrow itself.Senthil Balaji who was the Tamil Nadu Excise, Prohibition and Electricity Minister was divested of his portfolios and is presently a minister without portfolio in the Stalin cabinet.The minister was first admitted in a government hospital after his arrest and then shifted to a private hospital in Chennai. The ED has already moved the Supreme Court against the shifting of the minister.The cash-for-job ‘scam’ in which Senthil Balaji is arraigned took place in the period between 2011-16 when he was a minister in the AIADMK government of late J. Jayalalithaa. However, later he switched political positions and joined the DMK becoming a trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin. He is also considered a strong man in the Karur area of Western Tamil Nadu who has deep following at the grassroots levels.–IANSaal/svn/