KARUNA DECLARES UNDECLARED WAR ON JAYA
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/karuna-declares-undeclared-war-on-jaya.html
Thursday, 09 July 2015 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI July 10, 2015
Though the Election Commission of India has not announced any plans for holding the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu which in normal course goes to the polls early next year, the principal Opposition party DMK in association with the Congress has unleashed an “undeclared war” on J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister and supremo of the AIADMK.
As reported earlier by The Pioneer, Jayalalithaa’s resounding victory in the RK Nagar Assembly bypoll held on June 27 has made the DMK nervous. This forced M Karunanidhi, the 92-year-old president of the DMK and who has been confined to a wheelchair for the last five years, to question the health of Jayalalithaa (67) to lead the State. Political observers in Tamil Nadu attribute the new found aggressiveness in Karunanidhi to a fear psychosis — the fear of losing the next election.
On Monday, the DMK leadership surprised all by filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting Jayalalithaa of all charges in the Disproportionate Assets case. The SLP was filed in spite of the fact that the Government of Karnataka has approached the apex court challenging the High Court verdict. Karunanidhi also issued a statement on Tuesday questioning the status of Jayalalithaa’s health to be the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The DMK chief alleged that Jayalalithaa was not attending any public functions.
Interestingly, since her return as Chief Minister in 2011, Jayalalithaa has cut down her public appearances to the minimum level. She herself had announced that she would be curtailing her movements in order to minimise inconvenience to the public.
The DMK’s aggressive posture follows Jayalalithaa walking away with the honours for commissioning the Chennai Metro Rail, a project which is her own brainchild. The idea of Chennai Metro was first mooted by Jayalalithaa during her tenure as the Chief Minister during 2001 to 2005. But following a change of Government at the Centre, in which the DMK had crucial influence, the works of the Metro Rail project were launched only in 2009 during the DMK regime.
With the Assembly elections round the corner, the DMK is apprehensive of the AIADMK appropriating the entire credit of the project which has altered the landscape and skylines of Chennai. “The DMK, which has lost power both at the Centre and the State is finding itself in a No Man’s land for the first time in its history,” said N Kalyanasundaram, Tamil Nadu’s leading political chronicler. He said Karunanidhi is out to form a rainbow coalition against Jayalalithaa.
Taking note of Karunanidhi’s statement, Jayalalithaa has asked the AIADMK cadre to get ready for the Assembly elections. “Go to each household in the State and explain about the good works done by the AIADMK Government during the last four years,” Jayalalithaa told the party leaders and cadre.
According to S Kalyanaraman, Indologist and former senior consultant to Asian Development Bank, the Dravidian ideology has been confined to dustbin of Tamil Nadu history because of Amma. “For the Tamil Nadu people, Amma is the ultimate identity who can do no wrong. There is no way Karunanidhi or any other Dravidian parties can challenge Brand Amma . They are reduced to non-entities. Even Narendra Modi can chew his own khakhra. He has no impact in Tamil Nadu. It is Amma’s own land,” he said.http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/karuna-declares-undeclared-war-on-jaya.html