AIADMK giving go by to democratic ethos: Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today accused his successor Jayalalithaa of reversing policy decisions and initiatives of his government without proper consultations, showing total disregard for democratic norms.

Karunanidhi said while his government had spent Rs 500 crore to construct the new Assembly complex, inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa had declared she would not use it and preferred to work from Fort St George.

"Just because it was built by DMK and without consulting anyone, Jayalalithaa announced she will work from Fort St George. Should not the cabinet be consulted when such a big policy decision is taken? Should not allies be consulted? She had bid farewell to democracy even before assuming power," the DMK president said in a letter to his party workers.

Similarly, with Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform Education), government had moved a bill to scrap it soon after taking over, unmindful it was introduced after thorough consultations and having cleared legal hurdles during his regime.

"Despite opposition of her party's allies, the Left, it was passed without detailed debate (which shows) AIADMK does not believe in equality."

Further, after announcing the date to present the budget, the government revised tax rates to mop up Rs 4000 crore. This was against Parliamentary democracy as it had to be mentioned only as budget provisions. Only then could taxation be properly debated on the floor of the House, he said.

He also slammed Jayalalithaa for changing Tamil New Year to the month of Chithirai (in April) against Thai (in January). This again was done without any debate, he said.