Chennai: DMK working president MK Stalin does not leave any opportunity to attack the AIADMK government and took it to task for persisting with naming government schemes after a convicted person and using government money to celebrate convicted former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary.

On Saturday, Stalin demanded the removal of Jayalalithaa portraits in government offices across the state as she was a convict, sentenced to four years jail in a corruption case.

“Jayalalithaa was convicted (in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case). Already there are some schemes in her name and the government should not allow new schemes to be named after her,” Stalin said in a brief interaction with media persons. All schemes named after Jayalalithaa must be renamed, Stalin demanded.

The CM’s portraits are found at the Secretariat, the ministers’ rooms and local body offices and the same must be removed, the DMK leader said adding, “if this situation remains, the need for us to approach the court will certainly come up. Not just (some) elected representatives but people also are opposing this and it could lead to a law and order problem.”

Stalin said he took up these matters with Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan. He said he also pointed out the fact that the state government advertisements given on the occasion of Jayalalithaa’s 69th birthday and criticised the participation of Chief Minister Edappady K Palaniswami, his ministers and senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, in a tree plantation drive to mark the occasion.

On February 14, the Supreme Court sentenced AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala and Jayalalithaa and two others to four years jail in the DA case, by restoring a trial court order. The charges against the late Chief Minister had abated since she had passed away on December 5, 2016 but the court had held that the criminal conspiracy was hatched at her Poes Garden residence here.

The apex court had held that Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and two other convicts had entered into a conspiracy and the late Chief Minister, who was a public servant at the relevant time, had come to possess assets disproportionate to the known sources of her income during the check period.

When asked if he could manage to get the unedited footage of assembly proceedings of February 18 floor test, Stalin said he had not received any footage from the secretariat. Stalin was asked by the Madras High Court to produce the unedited footage to back his complaint against the speaker’s partisan behaviour in conducting the floor test.