Chennai: AIADMK government led by Edappadi Palaniswami may be basking in the joy of the Madras high court verdict upholding the decision of the speaker with respect to the disqualification case of the 18 MLAs. But, the ruling party has an impending challenge to overcome with one of their ministers D Jayakumar embroiled in a controversy, thanks to an audio clip.

Recently, actor-politician Sarathkumar has spoken on the issue claiming that only Tamil Nadu minister Jayakumar can prove if he is innocent or not. He said, "As far as I know, minister Jayakumar has claimed that it is not his voice. Only they can defend it and say if it is true or not. Many pieces of information surface on WhatsApp. Some are true and some are not. The minister, who has some responsibility, should prove that he is innocent to people soon because he is a public figure."

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In the audio clip, an unidentified woman is in conversation with a man, who identifies himself as Jayakumar. The woman is heard alleging that Jayakumar impregnated her daughter. Jayakumar is heard asking the woman to go ahead with abortion.

The fisheries minister, in the meantime, has denied reports claiming that the audio clip is “fake”. Jayakumar said, "Thinking about that, I can only laugh at it. For the past two years, a mafia group - you all know who that group is - is involved and I don't have to mention it. That group and their family members had morphed a video earlier and circulated it on WhatsApp and Facebook. We immediately complained to the cyber crime and arrested 3 people, who are involved in this. After failing in that attempt, this group made an audio clip. As you all know how much technology has developed, they synced my voice and again circulated them on WhatApp. Whoever is involved in this case, will face legal action."

This issue has definitely given enough ammunition to the opposition as well as the rebel camp. Vettrivel, TTV Dinakaran loyalist, demanded that the state chief minister K Palaniswami launch an investigation into the controversial audio. He also said that he has enough evidence against Jayakumar and that he will release it at the appropriate time.

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The onus right now lies in the hands of D Jayakumar to "prove his innocence".