Jaya hits out at MK on Madurai bypoll

Madurai, June 21 (UNI) AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa today charged Chief Minister M Karunanidhi with blackmailing AICC President Sonia Gandhi to armtwist the Election Commission from postponing the June 26 bye-elections to the Madurai West Assembly Constituency.

Addressing an election meeting here this evening to seek votes for her party nominee Sellur K Raju, she accused the Congress of caving into the pressure exerted by the DMK.

Fearing a crisis to the ruling coalition at the Centre, of which the DMK is a dominant constituent, the Congress had ensured the byelection was not postponed, she added.

According to her, the EC was all set to issue an order countermanding the elections, taking serious view of reports of large scale distribution of money and occurrence of violence during the campaign. However, Mr Karunanidhi had successfully scuttled it, she claimed.

In a situation where justice could neither be secured in the court nor with the police and the EC being arm-twisted, she turned to the voters, saying ''even god could not be expected to render justice under the DMK dispensation.'' Equating the people with 'God,' Ms Jayalalithaa asked them to teach a lesson to the 'minority government' and make the bypoll an instrument to bring about a change.

On the Presidential election, she charged Mr Karunanidhi with working against the interests of the Tamils, by denying President Kalam, a proud son of the soil, a second term. The DMK Chief, who is never tired of staking the mantle of leadership for the Tamils, was only interested in securing a Cabinet berth for his daughter Kanimozhi.

This was the deal he had struck with the Congress to extend support for Mr Pratibha Patil, the UPA-Left nominee, she claimed.

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