The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Jayalalithaa pursuing politics of convenience: PMK

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Jayalalithaa pursuing politics of convenience: PMK

Special Correspondent

Chief Minister's boycott of Manmohan Singh's Chennai function criticised

VILLUPURAM: Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S.Ramadoss has accused the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of pursuing "politics of convenience" in regard to the Sethu Samudhram Ship Channel Project.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam had repeatedly urged the Central Government both in the State Assembly through the Governor's speech delivered on March 9,2002 and the party executive meeting to implement the project without any delay.

In 1998 too the AIADMK had commended its general secretary Jayalalithaa for having succeeded in incorporating the project in the national action plan of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

But now Ms. Jayalalithaa had made a volte face by urging the Centre to drop the work on the project immediately, on the pretext that it would harm the interests of the fishermen, Dr. Ramadoss said.

Addressing a press conference at Thailapuram near here, Dr. Ramadoss said if Ms. Jayalalithaa felt that the project would affect the fishermen, she should come out with remedies, for which the Centre was ready to help. Instead, if she put forth the "meaningless demand for halting the project, the people would not tolerate it," he said.

He said that by boycotting the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's function recently in Chennai (he had come to inaugurate the National Institute of Siddha medicines) Ms. Jayalalithaa had again demonstrated her disregard for convention and political culture.

When Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister she commented on the "generation gap," and when L.K.Advani was the Deputy Prime Minister, she charged him with suffering from "selective amnesia."

She also chose to stay away from the function of the then Prime Minister A.B.Vajpayee.

While inaugurating a power project at Udhagamandalam recently, she termed the Opposition leaders as "Duryoadanas," and such a harangue was alien to political decency adopted by leaders like E.V.Ramasamy Naicker, Annadurai and M.Karunanidhi who held K.Kamaraj in high esteem.

Petrol price

Relating to the recent hike in the prices of petroleum products, Dr Ramadoss said the Centre had resorted to this measure to somewhat cushion the impact of the surging international prices.

But Ms, Jayalalithaa was shedding "crocodile tears" in this respect; for she had announced that despite the increase in fuel prices, she would not raise the bus fares.

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