The Hindu : Jana Krishnamurthy calls for report

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 26, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Jana Krishnamurthy calls for report

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI, March 25. With the DMK snapping its ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu, the national BJP president, Jana Krishnamurthy, has asked the State party for a report on the developments.

Mr.Krishnamurthy would be in Chennai tomorrow to participate in the State BJP core committee meeting, slated for finalising a strategy for byelections in three Assembly constituencies.

``We have no idea of contesting. We will offer support to the party which seeks our support. But a decision will be taken at the core committee meeting,'' the State BJP president, S. P. Kirubanidhi, told reporters here.

Stating that there was no reason for the DMK, ``unilaterally'' snapping its ties, he, however, said. The decision did not ``worry us''. The party would continue to ``do the organisational work'' and extend issue-based support to the ruling AIADMK.

Justifying the BJP's support for the `annadhanam' scheme, Dr. Kirubanidhi asked: ``Only the Hindu-minded, God-fearing BJP will back such a good scheme. What is wrong in supporting it?.''

The BJP high command had been intimated about the DMK announcement and its response was awaited, he said.

Oppurtunism, says Rama Gopalan

The Hindu Munnani leader, Rama Gopalan, in a statement from Tiruppur, described the DMK decision as "oppurtunism," to retain power at the Centre, while breaking ties with the BJP in the State.

In Madurai, the State BJP general secretary, L. Ganesan, told newspersons that the party did not see any crisis in the NDA following the DMK decision. At the same time, he maintained, the alliance with the DMK continued.

The NDA was not formed on the issues such as Ayodhya, the Bangalore resolution of the RSS or the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi's utterances on sporting of holy ash. Its political basis was the acceptance of A. B. Vajpayee as leader and the National Agenda for Governance. As there was no contradiction on the part of the DMK on this count, its alliance with the BJP continued, Mr. Ganesan said.

The BJP was a functional unit only at the national level and the NDA in Tamil Nadu was confined to two parties— BJP and DMK. Even while refusing to equate the AIADMK with the DMK, Mr. Ganesan said that for the DMK remaining in the NDA was a commitment, while the former had toppled the Vajpayee Government once. But the AIADMK's support for the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance and the Centre's handling of the Ayodhya issue might give an impression that " they (AIADMK) are coming closer".

Mr. Ganesan felt that there was scope for sorting out the differences between the DMK and the BJP through parleys when some senior leaders camped in Chennai in the next two days. When the lack of floor coordination between the BJP and the DMK was pointed out, the BJP leader said no joint meetings had been held, except on one occasion, to chalk out a strategy to be adopted by the NDA allies in the Assembly. The BJP would consider floor coordination if the initiative came from the DMK. The cadres of the two parties should remain unruffled over the latest developments, he said.

Welcoming the `annadhanam' scheme, Mr. Ganesan said it could not be extended to other places of worship as the Government had control over only temples.

At Ramanathapuram, Mr. Ganesan said there was nothing wrong in extending open support to the AIADMK government for its good deeds because the BJP wanted to act as constructive opposition in the Assembly.

Speaking to presspersons at Paramakudi, he ridiculed Mr. Karunanidhi for adopting a dual role— disbanding the NDA at the State level and continuing in the NDA at the national level. There was no State and Central BJP. All BJP leaders were discharging their duties under the leadership of Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Ganesan pointed out.

Swamy plea to DMK

The Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy, now in Qatar, said in a statement released here: " The DMK must stay with its decision to break with the BJP in the State to make Tamil Nadu a communal virus-free State".

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