V Narayanasamy, the former chief minister of
Puducherry on Monday threatened to file a defamation suit against Union Home Minister
Amit Shah  after the latter accused him of misappropriating Rs 15,000
crore sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the union territory, reported news agency ANI.

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“Home Minister Amit Shah made a serious allegation against me that PM Modi sent Rs 15,000 crore to Puducherry that I took a part of and sent a cut to the Gandhi family. If he doesn’t prove these accusations, I will file a criminal defamation case against him for damaging my and Gandhi family’s reputation by making such false statements,” Narayanasamy told ANI.

The Congress leader further added that the Home Minister must apologise to him and the people of Puducherry if the allegation is proven to be false.

The statements came at the backdrop of Amit Shah’s address at a rally in the poll-bound UT. The Home Minister in his speech accused Narayanasamy of corruption.

Narayanasamy resigned as Puducherry chief minister after losing a trust vote in the Assembly last month. He alleged that some of the MLAs were made to support the Opposition’s stand and so he and his supporters had to walk out of the House.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has announced that the election to the 33-member Assembly of the union territory of Puducherry will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the votes will be counted on May 2.

Presently, the union territory is being operated under President’s rule.