By IANS,
Chennai: AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa Thursday termed the muscle-flexing by Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK while negotiating sharing of seats with the Congress as a “drama”, noting that party chief M. Karunanidhi had done the same while seeking berths in the central government after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) retained power in 2009.
“We saw this happen earlier at the time of ministry formation at the centre in 2009. Karunanidhi flew to Delhi. He put forth his demands. When the Congress leadership resisted, he flew into pretended rage. He returned to Chennai, apparently in a huff, with all his MPs in tow, boycotting the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister,” Jayalalithaa said, in a statement issued here.
The bluff paid off and Karunanidhi got plum ministerial berths for his son M.K. Azhagiri, his nephew Dayanidhi Maran and his favourite daughter’s close associate, A. Raja, she added.
Referring to DMK’s recent threat of quitting the central government over differences in sharing of seats for the April 13 polls with the Congress, Jayalalithaa said: “Karunanidhi does not threaten to pull out of the central government over issues like the killings of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka or when Karnataka refuses to give Tamil Nadu its due share of Cauvery river water or when Kerala refuses to implement Supreme Court’s directive on Mullaperiyar dam or when the centre increases the fuel prices.”
Karunanidhi is content with writing letters to the prime minister on these issues, she said.
“But when he wants plum ministerial postings for his children and sundry relatives, when his near and dear ones are likely to be picked up by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) for siphoning away national resources, then Karunanidhi will put up a show of bravado citing some other reasons. And the Congress leadership will put up a show of defiance to fool its innocent grassroots cadres and then capitulate, giving the impression that the week-long face-off was for the sake of two or three legislature seats,” she added.