I am not bothered about stability : Karunanidhi

New Delhi, June 5 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today asserted that he was not bothered about the stability of his government and would do the best for the people of the state as long as he was at the helm.

"I am now in power. I will do whatever I could do for the people of my state," he told mediapersons at the Tamil Nadu House when he was asked if he foresaw any threat to his government because it was surviving on outside support of the Congress, the Left and the PMK.

"Don't predict how many days we will be in power," he said, adding that "I am not bothered about it." In this context, the five-time Chief Minister cited that he had lost power three times in his political career.

For a moment, Dr Karunanidhi became philosophical. "We don't know if we will be there tomorrow. How to predict anything in life," he said, citing the demise of his colleague Palanivelrajan, who died a few days after he was sworn in as Hindu Religious and Charitable (HR and CE) minister.

He sought to correct a reporter when referred to his government as a "minority government." He countered him with a question asking "Was the government headed by Mr A B Vajpayee a minority government ?" In the May 2006 elections to the state assembly, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) led by Mr Karunanidha got only 96 seats which is 28 seats short for a simple majority. The DMK, however, formed the government with outside support from the Congress, the Left and the PMK, all of them together fought the elections under Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA).

Asked to comment on the petrol price hike effected today, Dr Karunanidhi said the government should protect the interests of the common man. There was substance in the argument of the government in favour of raising the prices on account of hike in international oil prices. At the same time, the protests raised by the Left should not be neglected, he added.

UNI SH MA RS1916