Jayalalithaa slams M Karunanidhi for offer of support to Congress

POLLACHI (TN): In a scathing attack on her arch rival DMK chief M Karunanidhi for his recent offer of support to Congress if it "regretted its mistakes," Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa today alleged it was made to wriggle out of the 2G spectrum case, in which his daugther Kanimozhi and party leader A Raja are accused.

Addressing an election rally here, she said the recent utterances of Karunanidhi vis-a-vis support for Congress only disproved the claim made by DMK when it severed ties with the UPA over Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

DMK had supported all the "anti-people policies" of UPA government when it was a part of the alliance for nine years, she said and asked Karunanidhi whether it was not true that his party left the UPA being upset over the incarceration of his daughter in the 2G spectrum case.

"It was only to hoodwink you and get votes that he cited the Lankan Tamils issue. He does not have real concern for Tamils. After stating that the Congerss was ungrateful, now he is saying that his party was ready to support it," she said.

She asked why the DMK chief did not decalre he would never support the "inhumane" Congress when he condemned India's abstention at the UNHRC on the resolution against Sri Lanka.

"Will Karunanidhi have the courage to say so at least hereafter? What do you think?" she asked the gathering who roared "no".

Dwelling at length on the 2G case, she said if Rs 214 crore received by a TV channel in which Karunanidhi's wife and Kanimozhi were directors was genuine transaction, why it was repaid in a hurry.

"Why and how the money was given back? Is Karunanidhi ready to give explanation to all these?" she asked.

Referring to the Nira Radia tapes, she said the "lobbyist" had also held discussions with the relative of Karunanidhi and Kanimozhi, which revealed many things and sought to know why the DMK chief did not file a defamation case, if the reports were wrong.

"If he is going to say that these were not true, why he did not sue those behind the release for libel."

Alleging that Karunanidhi was trying to bury the spectrum scam, she said the DMK chief's efforts to deceive people will not bear fruit.

"I urge you to teach a fitting lesson to Karunanidhi-led DMK for trying to deceive the people for selfish purposes," she added.