Chennai: Continuing its tough stand against the supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Tamil Nadu government on September 22 decided to slap Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) against Union Minister and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) treasurer M Kannappan for his alleged open support to the banned outfit and demanded he be sacked from the Union Ministry.

In a five-page letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa termed Kannappan's conduct as "anti-national" and said his open support to LTTE had rendered him ineligible to continue in office as a Union Minister.

Declaring her intentions not to wait indefinitely for Vajpayee to take action against the minister, she warned that in the event of the Prime Minister not taking action due to "compelling political reasons", the state government would be constrained to take action.

She said Kannappan by supporting the LTTE has committed an offence under Sec 21(1)(2) of POTA and violated the oath while taking office. Kannappan was continuously offending the mandatory provisions of POTA and the state could not wait endlessly without taking action against him, she said.

"No law prevents a Central minister from being arrested by the state government in public interest and public discipline if he or she indulges in activities against the law of the land and prosecution can be initiated by the state government," Jayalalithaa added.

PTI