Debunking DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s charge that the ‘ungrateful’ Congress had betrayed his party in the 2G spectrum case, TNCC President B S Gnanadesikan on Monday asserted that it was because the Congress was grateful it supported Kanimozhi in the Rajya Sabha elections.
“The only reason the Congress supported Kanimozhi was because she was the daughter of Karunanidhi,” was his response to a query at a media conference at Satyamurthi Bhavan here, a day after the DMK’s General Council decided against alliance with the Congress.
“Congress never betrays anyone. It was because we were grateful for their support that we backed Kanimozhi even after they broke the alliance after the UNHRC resolution issue,” Gnanadesikan pointed out.
Pointing to media reports on Karunanidhi ruling out an alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls, he retorted that the pact between the two parties ended in May this year when DMK pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance.
“Congress never asked the DMK for its support in the Lok Sabha elections,” he pointed out, making it clear that the party was yet to scout for allies.
The suave TNCC president, terming as ‘absurd’ Karunanidhi’s reported accusations on the 2G case, wondered why the DMK patriarch had failed to realise the issues earlier.
“He (Karunanidhi) wrote a letter seeking support for Yercaud by-election. Earlier, he also sought our support for the Rajya Sabha polls. Why did he not realise then that the Congress was ungrateful?” questioned Gnanadesikan.
The TNCC president said it was wrong to say that the party had influenced the probe in the 2G case when it was directly monitored by the Supreme Court.
“So it is not right to say that Congress was responsible for the arrests of A Raja and Kanimozhi,” he observed.
EVKS Raps MK
Meanwhile, Congress leader and former union minister, EVKS Elangovan lashed out at DMK Chief M Karunanidhi and demanded that Kanimozhi resign from the Rajya Sabha as she got elected because of the support of Congress.
Elangovan said Karunanidhi and the DMK had been embroilled in corruption scandals since the days of the Sarkaria Commission.
So the patriarch’s argument that the Congress had used the CBI to foist cases on DMK leaders in 2G spectrum issue cannot be accepted.
Elangovan said that the decision of the DMK not to align with the Congress was a wonderful new year’s gift.
Going Public
■ The DMK on Monday announced that its entire leadership would preside over public meetings across the State on December 21, to explain the resolutions passed in the party’s general council meeting held on Sunday
■ Party chief M Karunanidhi would take the field in south Chennai in the presence of deputy general secretary Durai Murugan
■ MK Stalin would address the meeting in Kancheepuram, while Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran in Thoothukudi and Madurai respectively
■ T R Baalu and tainted former telecom minister A Raja would address the meetings in Pudukottai and Cuddalore respectively
■ “We will not be working out pre-poll alliances with either the Congress or the BJP. Getting this message across is crucial at this stage for us,” said a senior party functionary
■ The meetings are also likely to serve as a platform to react to any announcements that may be made by the AIADMK at its general council and executive committee meeting on December 19