The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Karunanidhi wanted May 11 celebrations cancelled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Karunanidhi wanted May 11 celebrations cancelled

R.K. Radhakrishnan

Leaders of alliance parties urge him not to do so

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi at a dinner hosted for MLAs on Wednesday. On his extreme right is CPI(M) State Secretary N.Varadarajan and Assembly Speaker R.Avudaiappan. To his left are Finance Minister K.Anbazhagan and PMK president G.K.Mani. — PHOTO:DIPR

CHENNAI: The attack on the newspaper office in Madurai left the Chief Minister visibly upset. His first reaction: cancel the function slated to mark his golden jubilee year in the Assembly.

Mr. Karunanidhi, who has been under attack from leaders of allied parties over the policies of his Government in the past few weeks, has also not been happy with the performance of his own partymen and a few Ministers in the Assembly.

On hearing the news of the attack, he adjourned to `vasantha mandapam,' the room next to the Assembly hall, to monitor developments. Party seniors, including Arcot N.Veerasamy, Durai Murugan and Veerapandi S.Arumugham were seen going in for discussions. As the session came to an end, the Chief Minister's secretaries, who were waiting outside, wanted the leaders of alliance parties to meet the Chief Minister. Mr. Karunandhi reportedly told them that he did not want the function to go on and that he was very upset and sad over the developments. The leaders of the alliance parties, including D. Sudarsanam and Peter Alphonse (Congress), G.K. Mani (PMK), C. Govindasamy (CPI-M) and V. Sivapunniyam (CPI) told him that the two were unrelated events. They told him that they could understand his sentiments, but that the event on May 11 to felicitate him should not be cancelled.

All of them wanted stringent action against those who indulged in violence "to send a strong signal" to people taking law and order into their own hands.

Mr. Karunanidhi was in the room for more than half-an-hour after the session concluded and most Ministers and DMK MLAs were seen waiting for him outside the room.

Later in the evening, there was some speculation if he would participate in the dinner organised for MLAs. Despite his mood, Mr. Karunanidhi said that he had to attend because he was the host. Many senior leaders including N. Varadarajan (State Secretary, CPI-M) and RM. Veerappan (founder, MGR Kazhagam) were seen talking to Mr. Karunanidhi. The AIADMK and MDMK members kept away.

Offers condolence

In a statement issued at the venue, Mr. Karunanidhi offered his condolences to the family of three members who died during the attacks. He acknowledged that their loss was irreparable. He announced a solatium of Rs. 2 lakh for the next of kin of the victims.

The Chief Minister added that he was worried about the opinion poll published in Dinakaran on May 7, rating Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu.

On the same day, he had issued a release stating that isolating one Minister as the best performer when a number of coalition partners were working together to run the government was wrong.

He reaffirmed his earlier statement that he had no belief at all in opinion polls. And yet, the same paper reported another opinion poll that predicted his successor and this led to the death of three people, he rued.

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