M Karunanidhi in favour of including PM under Lokpal

CHENNAI: DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said he was in favour of including the Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpal bill as it would help the office prove it was not guilty of anything.

In a statement, he said the inclusion would clearly tell the world that the Prime Minister was not afraid. "It will help to prove that we are clean", he said.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had stated that he was not against including the office under the Lokpal bill, Karunanidhi said.

The DMK patriarch pointed out that during his tenure as Chief Minister in the early seventies, he had brought forward an anti-corruption legislation bringing the Chief Minister under the Act.

Though he had highlighted this fact in his recent interaction with the media, reports published stated that he was following a line against the UPA's position on the Lokpal bill, he said.

Karunanidhi's political rival and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has disfavoured bringing the PM under the Lokpal bill.