Jaya sounds poll bugle; seeks rout of DMK, Congress

Seeking a complete rout of archrival DMK and Congress in the coming Lok Sabha polls for "betraying the people" of Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today announced a 'whirlwind' campaign to ensure AIADMK wins all 40 seats.

Addressing party supporters here after paying tribute to AIADMK founder and former matinee idol MG Ramachandran on the occasion of his 97th birth anniversary, the party supremo hit out at DMK and its chief M Karunanidhi, saying her mentor had floated the party primarily to root them out.

"I request you to work with the aim to ensure that DMK and Congress, who have been constantly betraying the people of Tamil Nadu, do not get a single seat in the coming Lok Sabha elections," said Jayalalithaa, who has been camping in nearby Kodanadu in the hilly Nilgiris district and discharging her official duties from there in the past few weeks.

Accusing Karunanidhi of doing little for the state's benefit and showing scant regard for the Sri Lankan Tamils, she said he had for "namesake" used the issue to walk out of Congress-led UPA last year.

But he had approached the former ally for its support to ensure the election of his daughter Kanimozhi to Rajya Sabha the same year, she said adding this showed he still "hobnobbed" with Congress.

If he really had concerns for Tamils, his party should have quit the UPA alliance in 2008, when India provided military assistance to Sri Lanka in its fight against rebel LTTE, or the next year when hostilities peaked, resulting in increased civilian Tamils casualty, she said.

Instead, he had only enacted a "drama" by staging a fast seeking ceasefire "for three hours", she said about his hunger strike at Marina here, which drew flak from various quarters.

With the DMK now out of Congress alliance it will try to defend itself saying the party was not the reason for the "anti-Tamil" policies, she said adding AIADMK workers have to be vigilant about this.

She exhorted them to go door-to-door and explain her party's achievements in its two-and-a-half years in office.

"You should work hard day and night with the sole aim of ensuring the party nominees' win by large margins. I will also be joining you by undertaking whirldwind campaign," she said.