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Karunanidhi charges Jayalalitha with destabilising Vajpayee's government

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today criticised All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha for using the Cauvery waters issue as a front for creating hurdles in the functioning of the Vajpayee government at the Centre.

Talking to newspersons at the Madras airport on his return from Madurai, he said Jayalalitha was disappointed as her demand for the dismissal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in the state in order to stall the corruption cases against her had not been fulfilled.

Replying to a question, Karunanidhi said the BJP and its allies had used the stability plank to come to power, but now the ruling coalition was disintegrating. The internal squabbles were affecting the government's performance, he charged.

The chief minister said the resolution of the Cauvery dispute was the only major achievement of the BJP-led government, after its widely-hailed Pokhran nuclear tests.

Asked whether the DMK would offer support to the Vajpayee government in case of withdrawal of support by the AIADMK, Karunanidhi said his party could take a stand only after its general council and executive committee had discussed the issue.

In any case, the DMK was still part of the United Front and it would be better if all the UF constituents discussed the issue, he added.

Asked if the DMK was against offering support to the BJP-led coalition, Karunanidhi asserted the DMK would support the progressive policies and schemes of any government at the Centre.

"We have welcomed the good schemes of the present government at the Centre. For instance, we have supported the reservation of 33 per cent seats in legislative bodies for women. I had attended the meeting of chief ministers convened by Vajpayee," he added.

Asked if he thought the Vajpayee government should be brought down, the chief minister said any elected government should be allowed to complete its full term so that its performance could be evaluated. It was not correct to bring down governments within six months or one year of their assumption of office. Such attempts would undermine the democratic fabric of the country's polity, he felt.

On Jayalalitha's charge that those close to the prime minister had received bribes to unseat M K Bezbaruah as Enforcement Director, Karunanidhi said she was in the habit of making grave charges. "She has now levelled them against the prime minister himself. I have read his counter to her allegation," he added.

UNI

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