By IANS
Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Thursday termed as "indecent" AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha's failure to turn up for an appointment of the third front with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to invite him to seek re-election.
Writing in his party organ 'Murasoli', and DMK president said the eight-party United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) had proposed Kalam's name without consulting him, thereby putting him in a "difficult situation".
Karunanidhi claimed that he had sought President Kalam's permission to propose him as the presidential candidate last December.
"But the president said that he wanted to pursue academic activities during the rest of his life and did not want a second term," Karunanidhi said.
"The third front and its leaders have done a disservice to President Kalam and I hope he is able to discern the truth behind this indecent game of brinkmanship and one-upmanship. The efforts of this front to field Kalam against the certain-to-win United Progressive Alliance-Left candidate Pratibha Patil was not due to their being in awe of the president's scientific background and intellectual aura. It was purely a game of chance played by people who wanted political vengeance," Karunanidhi added.
"Further, how will the leaders of this so-called front be able to justify their calling the candidature of Pratibha Patil a 'joke' by ignoring the solemnity of the office and its occasion?" he wondered.