Uf Should Not Reject Rjd'S Support, Says Karunanidhi

DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi yesterday said it would not be wise on the part of the United Front to reject the offer of support by the newly-formed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), as the party had come forward on its own to support the UF government.

My only contention is that as the RJD has volunteered to extend support to the UF, it would be unwise (for the UF) to reject it, he said, replying to a question from newspersons after a meeting of party MLAs here.

Karunanidhi, a member of the UF steering committee, said he had never expressed his opposition to the institution of a case against the RJD leader and Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, or the Governor's order sanctioning his prosecution in the fodder scam.

Even when one of the cabinet ministers was asked by the Prime Minister to resign in connection with the multi-crore fodder scam, the DMK did not condemn it, he said.

The question of Yadav tendering his resignation should be left to his discretion. In any case, his government would automatically fall, if he was unable to prove his majority while seeking a confidence vote in the Assembly, Karunanidhi said.

Asked how anyone could support a Chief Minister who had been charge-sheeted, Karunanidhi said when former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha challenged in the Supreme Court the sanction accorded by the then state Governor to Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy to prosecute her, the West Bengal government impleaded itself in the case. Since the CPI-M-led government has impleaded itself in the case, can we say the CPI-M is justifying corruption?, he asked.

To a question on AICC chief Sitaram Kesri expressing his concern over caste clashes in some southern districts of the state, the DMK president said it was natural for everybody to be concerned. Of the 29 districts in the state, caste violence had broken out in a couple of them, but now normalcy has returned, he said.