PM's remarks apply to BJP too: CM

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 20. The DMK President and Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, today said that he did not see the Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee's reported remarks, that NDA partners should keep `within limits' in raising issues that concerned them, as singling out the BJP's allies in the NDA at the Centre.

``Mr.Vajpayee's remarks on allies keeping to limits include the BJP too as they are also our allies'', Mr. Karunanidhi told a news conference at the Secretariat here after a Cabinet meeting, underscoring the in-built reciprocity in their ties.

Stating that Mr. Vajpayee had never said that allies had `no right' to raise issues that caused concern, Mr. Karunanidhi said, as far as the Ayodhya controversy was concerned, the DMK had ``very clearly and categorically'' expressed its views.

To a query on the journalist and Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Cho. S. Ramaswamy's meeting with the AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha and her subsequent call for a `grand alliance' to oust the DMK in the next Assembly elections, Mr. Karunanidhi said he did not think there was any significance in their meeting. However, ``only time will tell'', he added. On whether the DMK will fashion a new alliance under his leadership to take on the proposed `grand alliance', Mr. Karunanidhi said there was no such necessity thrust on the DMK. ``Our existing alliance (NDA) will continue'', he said.

Asked if the Tamil Nadu Government had indicated any `suitable date' to the Election Commission (EC) for holding the Assembly elections next year, he said that the EC had not sought its views in this regard, so far. ``If there is any difficulty about school and college exams, we will explain it to them'', he said, adding that the Government will accept the EC's views.

Responding to the PMK leader, Dr. S. Ramadoss' statement that people looked for a new political alternative after having seen much of both DMK and AIADMK regimes, Mr. Karunanidhi said perhaps he had meant it in the context of the Pondicherry elections.

As regards Dr. Ramadoss' frequent flip-flop on the PMK's stance towards the NDA in the State, giving contradictory signals, Mr. Karunanidhi said the former had still been maintaining that PMK will continue to be with the DMK.

Krishna water supply

Admitting that Chennai did face a difficult situation on the water front next year, Mr. Karunanidhi said the PWD Minister, Mr. Durai Murugan and the City Mayor, Mr. M. K. Stalin, would shortly go to Hyderabad to impress upon the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, to step up the quantum and duration of the Krishna water supplies to Chennai. ``I have also written to Mr. Naidu regarding this'', he added.

The Government was also considering other measures like arranging water distribution through lorries and going in for more deep borewells in some parts of the city, he said.

Mr. Karunanidhi also made it clear that experts, who inspected the Mullaperiyar dam recently, had said no cracks had developed following the recent tremors.

``It is in nobody's interests to spread rumours about the dam just to get political mileage'', he observed.

To another query, the Chief Minister said there was no plan to revert to a six-day working week for the Government. If the Government employees place this demand, then ``we can discuss with them and take a decision'', he added.

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Section  : Southern States
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