Police will do their duty: CM

By M.R. Venkatesh

CHENNAI, APRIL 23. Even as the DMK president and Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, went round the Chepauk constituency, from where he is seeking re-election, for the second day today, he expressed the hope that the police would not fail in their duty to uphold law and order, should any trouble arise tomorrow when the fate of the AIADMK leader, Ms.Jayalalitha's nomination papers is known.

Mr. Karunanidhi, after filing his nomination papers for Chepauk, told reporters earlier that the DMK treasurer, Mr. Arcot Veeraswami, had written to the Director-General of Police following Ms.Jayalalitha's provocative statement yesterday. ``It shows that the AIADMK is planning to unleash violence,'' he said.

The DMK leader, who was given a tumultuous welcome as he visited the other parts of Chepauk in an open jeep, assured the minorities in particular that as long as the DMK was part of any political front, there would be no room for communalism in it. The DMK-inclusive NDA's commitment to secularism was total, he added.

Large crowds including women from Muslim and Brahmin households came out to greet him, while at the end of his visit, Mr.Karunanidhi was crowned with a regal headgear. En route, one of his enthusiasts adorned him with a garland of currency notes and another presented him with a sword.

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