DMK wants more for TN

Reading the drubbing it received recently in the two state by-polls as a warning sign ahead of the Assembly elections due in 2006, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) today wanted the Centre to do more for Tamil Nadu.

Its severest criticism was, however, reserved for the Bhartiya Janata Party, suggesting that the party was trying to regain its Muslim base.

Addressing the concluding session of the party's two-day zonal conference last night at Nilambur, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said his party was not "totally satisfied" with what the Centre had done for the state.

However, he also enumerated some of the benefits derived from 12 union ministers from the state, namely, classic language status for Tamil, the Sethusamudram project and BSNL's decision to treat as local calls, phone calls made from BSNL phones throughout the state.

He accused the BJP-led NDA of stalling the smooth passage of important Bills by boycotting Parliament.

The BJP had functioned in an "undemocratic manner" and boycotted Parliament to prevent the implementation of various Bills and welfare schemes of the Centre, including 33 per cent reservation for women, he said. This was DMK's attempt to put the BJP in the dock, and to win back the support of its traditional supporters, the Muslims of Tamil Nadu.

Karunanidhi said he and Pattali Makkal Katchi leader S Ramadoss had sought various development schemes for Tamil Nadu, including a "bullet train" from Delhi to Chennai.

He questioned the AIADMK's credentials to question the performance of union ministers and the Centre when that party had no achievements of its own to point out during the last four years.

He also criticised as "not acceptable", the remarks made by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu about the DMK's stand on the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly.

He said there was a lot of difference in dissolving an Assembly by "misusing" Article 356 and the case of Bihar Assembly, where there was no elected government. "This was done, as reported by the Governor, to prevent horse-trading," he said.

When reminded of the case filed against him and his son MK Stalin and 38 others in the flyover scam, Karunanidhi wanted to know why this case was revived after a long period of time. "We are ready to face these cases legally. We have not accumulated wealth as done by others," he said.

He added before becoming chief minister, J Jayalalithaa's assets in 1991 were about Rs 2.18 crore, which swelled to Rs 66.47 crore in 1996.