Tamil Nadu   

Tindivanam Ramamurthy crosses `Lakshman Rekha'

S. Dorairaj

Tindivanam Ramamurthy

CHENNAI: Congress veteran Tindivanam Ramamurthy's meeting with Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa, at her residence here on Monday, raised several eyebrows.

Though the meeting did not come as a bolt from the blue for many Congressmen in the State, even his bitterest critics would not have imagined it would happen so soon, that too when the party leadership had warned him not to cross the "Lakshman Rekha", a TNCC functionary said. Mr. Ramamurthy should not have made the move when seat-sharing talks in the Opposition Democratic Progressive Alliance had reached a crucial stage, he added.

Shortly after calling on Ms. Jayalalithaa, Mr. Ramamurthy told The Hindu that the 30-minute one-on-one meeting was cordial. Justifying his decision, he said, "I met her, as she is the Chief Minister. We knew each other during our tenures as Members of the Rajya Sabha."

Denying that he discussed "party politics," he said, "The discussions revolved around the general political situation in the State." He commended the administration's relief measures in tsunami and flood-hit areas.

"What is wrong with my action?" he quipped when asked if the meeting would send wrong signals, particularly when the Congress was holding seat-sharing talks with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Referring to the meeting some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had with DMK president M. Karunanidhi, he said, "You cannot adopt two different yardsticks for me and the DMK leader."

Sources close to the estranged Congress leader said the "immediate provocation" for his decision to meet Ms. Jayalalithaa was the remark of Congress Working Committee member in-charge of the Tamil Nadu unit, Veerappa Moily, that a show-cause notice had been served on him.

Mr. Ramamurthy said he would not reply to the latest show-cause notice, as he had already responded to the previous one. He reiterated that the Congress should be treated with "due honour and respect and coalition was the need of the hour in the State."

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