Jaya berates ministers for discussing her marks in maths

Chennai, Aug 5 (UNI) Condemning the discussion held in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on her matriculation marks by two state Ministers, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today said it was Tamil Nadu's misfortune to have such ''uncultured'' people as ministers.

In a statement here, she said Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and Information and Publicity Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi had made her Matriculation mark a subject of discussion with the aim of belittling her.

''It is highly condemnable that the two Ministers have made such remarks inside the House, making use of legislative immunity. If they had made the statement outside the Assembly, I would have filed a suit against them,'' she said.

It may be recalled that Ms Jayalalithaa, while participating in a discussion on the state budget as Leader of the Opposition on July 31, said she was not weak in mathematics and had in fact scored 200 out of 200 in the Matriculation Examination.

In an apparent dig at her, Mr Ponmudi, in midst of a discussion on the demand for grants for his department yesterday, said he would not falsely claim that he had scored centum despite having scored only 193 marks.

Intervening, Mr Ilamvazhuthi said the AIADMK supremo had scored only 193 in Maths. The student who sat before Ms Jayalalithaa in the exam hall scored 200 marks, he added.

Expressing shock on the Ministers' remarks, Ms Jayalalithaa reiterated that she scored centum in mathematics in the Matriculation examination.

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