The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `Jayalalithaa should resign'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Jayalalithaa should resign'

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

DMK supporters celebrating the DPA's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections at the party headquarters in Chennai. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, MAY 13. The constituents of the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) today welcomed the Lok Sabha poll outcome.

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president, G.K. Vasan, urged the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, to quit, owning moral responsibility for the heavy drubbing by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine suffered in the State.

The electorate had dealt a ``mortal blow'' to Ms. Jayalalithaa's ``personalised attacks'' on the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, during the campaign, he said. Though she had harped on Ms. Gandhi's foreign origin issue and asked the electors to choose Atal Bihari Vajpayee Prime Minister, her appeal was rejected.

Despite the ``deliberate deletion of names from the electoral rolls on a large-scale,'' the people exercised their franchise in favour of the DPA, he said adding the poll outcome also indicated that the BJP's advertisements could not cut ice with the public.

Through their decisive verdict, the electors ``fulfilled their wish to oust the communal BJP from power and paved the way for the formation of a secular government under the leadership of Ms. Gandhi,'' said Mr. Vasan. The people taught a lesson to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre and the ``anti-people AIADMK Government.''

Mr. Vasan thanked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, M. Karunanidhi, for being the architect of the DPA and leading it to victory with the main aim of making Ms. Gandhi Prime Minister.

`Fitting reply'

Echoing similar feelings, the Pattali Makkal Katchi founder, S. Ramadoss, said Ms. Jayalalithaa should quit, as the AIADMK-BJP combine had suffered defeat in all 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State and Pondicherry. The results made it clear that money power and authority could not stand before a principled alliance. The people had given a ``fitting reply to Ms. Jayalalithaa's undignified campaign and personal attacks'' on Ms. Gandhi and DPA leaders, he said.

In an oblique reference, Dr. Ramadoss claimed that the Rajnikant factor had also not worked.

In Erode, the former TNCC chief, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, who bagged the Gobichettipalayam seat, urged Ms. Jayalalithaa to resign, owning moral responsibility for the humiliating defeat suffered by the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

`Blow to repressive policies'

N. Varadarajan, State secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), said in a statement that the people, through their clear verdict had ``taught a fitting lesson to the NDA Government, whose policies had had a devastating effect on the country's economy, besides allowing the big business and multinational corporations to plunder its resources.'' The poll outcome was a big blow to the ``repressive, authoritarian and anti-people policies'' of the AIADMK Government led by Ms. Jayalalithaa.

R. Nallakannu, State secretary, Communist Party of India, said the results showed that the electors had rebuffed attempts by the AIADMK and NDA regimes to ``divide people on communal lines.'' They had also ignored the NDA's ``India shining'' campaign. The voters had responded positively, favouring the secular parties to be in the saddle at the Centre, he said.

The Dravidar Kazhagam president, K. Veeramani, described the verdict as a ``mortal blow'' to the BJP. The people had dealt a ``stunning blow to Ms. Jayalalithaa's ego and style of functioning.'' The DPA's historic victory became a decisive factor in the formation of a secular government at the Centre, he said.

The State president of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, M.H. Jawahirullah, said the outcome clearly indicated the people's wish that the country's secular and democratic credentials be upheld.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu