Why is Jayalalithaa silent, asks M Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on Friday accused Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa of targeting him “unnecessarily” in her election rallies instead of “breaking her silence” on the charges made against her and the AIADMK government by Union ministers and BJP chief Amit Shah.

In a letter to his party cadre, the DMK chief accused the AIADMK supremo of maintaining silence on accusations by Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar on UDAY and Western Ghats issues. “She (Jayalalithaa) has chosen to respond now. Why did not she respond immediately after the ministers made such remarks? She kept silent all this while and why target me in Virudachalam rally?” he asked. Noting that Mr Shah had on Thursday accused the AIADMK government of being the “most corrupt”, Mr Karunanidhi said the Chief Minister should shed her silence at least now. “She was very evasive in her reply to charges by Union Ministers that she was inaccessible. Even the statement issued by (Finance Minister) O. Pannerselvam speaks only about Chief Minister meeting Union Ministers at functions, but does not give details about the issues discussed,” he said.

Accusing Ms Jayalalithaa of trying to mislead people on the then DMK government’s decision to revoke prohibition in 1971, he said the decision was taken only keeping in mind the financial situation of the state. “I have maintained this so many times. But still, Jayalalithaa repeats the same in every public meeting. It is the AIADMK Government which launched Tasmac shops,” he said. Claiming that there is a “popular uprising” against the AIADMK Government, the DMK chief said the state did not experience any development during the past five years.

In a separate letter to his cadre, Mr Karunanidhi asked party men to shed their differences if any with the candidates of the party and work for their victory in the coming elections. He said everyone who applied for party ticket is “hard working and have dedicated their lives for the party” but several factors were taken into consideration while giving tickets. He also asked his cadre not to get dejected if their constituency had been allotted to alliance partners.