By IANS
Chennai : Irked over accusations made by some Congress leaders of being soft towards the banned Tamil Tigers, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Sunday said he would rather demit office than lose his self-respect.
Karunanidhi chose to speak his mind during a wedding function of an aide at the DMK headquarters here, which was also attended by several Congress leaders.
“It would be better if the party understood that I have warned individuals and groups indulging in anti-India activities, following in the footsteps of my (late) leader Anna (Durai) who gave up the demand for a separate Tamil nation.”
He was making an oblique reference to a recent volley of attacks from Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief M. Krishnaswamy and central minister E.V.K.S. Elangovan.
During a public meeting in Nagercoil Saturday, Chidambaram blamed the ruling DMK for “serious omissions and commissions” vis-à-vis increasing anti-India activities in the state.
The chief minister went on to add: “For those like me who have matured under the political guidance of our Anna, our self-respect is dearer than the crown of thorns that denotes power. Let our fraternal parties comprehend that we are prepared to lose the latter if the former is under threat.”
“We have clearly warned the Dalit Panthers of India on the assembly floor against fissiparous tendencies and announced stern measures if they persist with it, despite its leadership being on friendly terms with us,” Karunanidhi asserted.
“The continuing strident criticism has created a suspicion in my mind as to whether there is a conspiracy afoot to destabilise the government that has ensured Tamil Nadu is a haven of peace.”
Some state level Congress leaders have been publicly stating that the DMK “hasn’t learnt its lessons” after losing power in the state once and triggering the fall of a central government later on the issue of anti-India activities.
They refer to the dismissal of the Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu in 1991 and the toppling of the I.K. Gujral-led United Front coalition government in New Delhi in 1997 over the refusal of the DMK ministers to accept the findings of the Jain Commission, which probed former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.
A Karunanidhi government in the state was also dismissed in 1976 by then prime minister Indira Gandhi over corruption charges.
However, after the dismissals, the DMK leadership managed to stage a comeback in the good books of the Congress leadership.