I will take it as constructive criticism: CM reacts to Ramadoss

Chennai, Mar 3 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said he would take as ''constructive'', the criticism by his ally Pattali Makkal Katchi against his Government ''The bend in Veena (musical instrument) is only to raise the melodies,'' the octogenarian leader said.

In a statement here, he pointed out that PMK founder S Ramadoss' ''positive'' criticism was only to help him (Karunanidhi) reach the top slot among the Chief Ministers in the country.

''I will take all his criticism in that spirit,'' he said.

The PMK chief had launched a blistering attack against the DMK Government for its ''big brother'' attitude in not consulting the allies on important issues.'' The ruling party had only 96 MLAs in the Assembly, but was behaving as though it had absolute majority. ''Do they think the PMK is a branch office of their party'', Dr Ramadoss had said.

Dr Ramadoss had also accused the DMK of hijacking developmental schemes brought to the state by Union Ministers belonging to the PMK.

In his latest salvo against the ruling party, he had served a one-month ultimatum to the Chief Minister to stop the entry of multi- national companies into the retail sector in the state.

However, the simmering tension between the PMK and DMK was unlikely to derail the minority DMK Government in the near future as the PMK chief was keen to continue in the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) at least till the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, political observers feel.

The PMK's zeal to play the role of a ''true opposition'' in the state was out of its ambition to capture power in the state in the 2011 assembly elections, they said.

The PMK, which has 18 members in the Tamil Nadu assembly, is extending support from outside to the DMK, which is 22 seats short of a simple majority.

UNI