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Jaya asks Centre to drop power bill

All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha on Monday urged the Union government to drop the move to introduce, during the Budget session of Parliament, the power bill replacing the recent power ordinance, as it is "anti-farmer".

Briefing newspersons after the AIADMK executive committee meeting in Madras this morning, she said the executive had passed a resolution totally opposing the draft bill as it will certainly affect the free power supply scheme for farmers not only of Tamil Nadu, but in other states like Punjab as well.

Asked if the AIADMK was not satisfied with the amendments to the bill promised to her by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee during the May 9 coordination committee meeting of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies at Delhi, she said, "We discussed the bill only for a short time at the meeting amidst so many other issues."

She said the AIADMK had decided to oppose the draft bill after evaluating the feedback from the party's district secretaries. Other BJP allies including Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal are also opposed to the bill, she added.

On whether the AIADMK would oppose the bill if introduced in this session of Parliament, Jayalalitha said the resolution was being sent to the prime minister. "Let us wait and see the response," she added.

Asked about Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam's comment that all pending issues about the bill were being sorted out, Jayalalitha said: "We do not want the bill to be rushed through at this stage. We need to have a comprehensive and intensive discussions on its provisions."

She reiterated that she first learnt about the ordinance only through newspaper reports. "Why this urgency, we had wondered even at that stage," she added.

She said the executive passed another resolution demanding that the Union government introduce a constitutional amendment, in this session itself, protecting the 69 per cent reservation system in Tamil Nadu. This has been included in the national agenda of the ruling coalition and agreed upon at the may nine meeting, she pointed out.

Jayalalitha said the executive also demanded that Vajpayee take immediate steps to ensure the implementation of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal's interim award in its entirety as per the national agenda, which promised to resolve inter-state water disputes within a given timeframe.

Denying reports in a section of the press that differences between her and AIADMK MP R K Kumar had led to his resignation from the Union council of ministers, Jayalalitha said he had made it clear that his resignation was due to health reasons.

She said Kumar had informed her on May 9 about his inability to continue in the post. "I immediately conveyed this to Vajpayee during my one-to-one meeting with him that day and recommended that his portfolios could be handed over to Kadambur Janarthanam," she added.

Asked why there was a delay in the acceptance of the resignation, she said: "You must pose this question to the prime minister."

She also denied reports in a section of the press that Vajpayee had delayed accepting the resignation letter till he confirmed the same with Kumar.

Returning to her pet theme of her being harassed by the media, a smiling Jayalalitha said: "The media is creating a controversy where there is none. This only highlights the deep-rooted and inexplicable bias a section of the media has against the AIADMK and its general secretary."

On whether she felt any communication gap existed between her and the media, she said: "Where is the need for any gap? I am meeting you regularly."

Asked whether she was satisfied with the presence of only two AIADMK men in the Union council of ministers, she said: "We would like to have more. We have to wait till the expansion promised by Vajpayee."

Top AIADMK leaders and MPs, including Union ministers Thambidurai and K Janarthanam attended the executive meeting, which also passed a resolution congratulating the Union government and the country's scientists for successfully carrying out the nuclear tests at Pokhran on May 11 and 13. Kumar, however, was not present at the meeting.

UNI

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