Jayalalithaa raps EVKS Elangovan, but asks cadres to lay off
The AIADMK chief did not put the issue to rest without taking a dig at the TNCC chief in her inimitable style
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-08-24 05:00 GMT
Chennai: Breaking her silence on the Elangovan issue, Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa on Sunday appealed to her party workers to end their agitation demanding an apology from the state Congress chief for his controversial remarks about the Jaya-Modi meeting of Aug. 7.
“I am very much aware of party workers taking up agitations out of pain. Nonetheless, I appeal to you not to continue the protests any more as you have expressed your sentiments already,” said Jayalalithaa, in a statement.
The AIADMK chief did not put the issue to rest without taking a dig at the TNCC chief in her inimitable style. Recalling an incident in 2014 in which the Sri Lankan defence ministry had posted derogatory remarks about her on its website over the practice of the TN CM writing to GoI on the fishermen issue and pulled it out following a protest from the Congress, the CM said the island nation had tendered an apology then.
“However, Elangovan’s comments had surpassed the comments (posted in the Sri Lankan government website),” she remarked while accusing some political parties of backing the comments and some even restraining from making comments for political gains.
Criticising Elangovan’s clarification on August 20 that he had only spoken of a “secret pact” between AIADMK and BJP and that his “political view” was misunderstood, Jayalalithaa said, “By issuing such statement, it has become explicit that Elangovan himself has indirectly accepted that making such a comment was wrong.”
Meanwhile, AICC secretary Su Thirunavukkarasar welcomed CM’s statement and reiterated that the TNCC chief had already clarified that his statement was misunderstood and he did not intend to offend anyone. He also denied reports that the AICC had summoned Elangovan over the statement row. It was widely perceived that the TNCC chief had left for the capital on Friday only to evade arrest by TN police.