Salem division issue: Jaya for ouster of Minister

Chennai, Aug 27 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa today demanded the dismissal of Tamil Nadu Minister Veerapandi S Arumugham for allegedly damaging public property during the August 25 rail roko agitation to press for the creation of the Salem railway division.

In a statement here, she said that being a State Minister and belonging to a party which was part of the union government, Mr Arumugham had instigated violence in the form of a protest.

''Train signals were damaged, sleepers were removed and tracks were filled with sand, which led to hundreds of passengers being stranded. But no action has been taken against the Minister and the other DMK men so far,'' she said, demanding the dismissal of the minister from the DMK cabinet.

''Will the government have kept quiet if the opposition had launched such an agitation and damaged public property,'' she asked.

Stating that there were no two opinions on the formation of a railway division in Salem, Ms Jayalalithaa said any protest should be of democratic form. ''We too have staged demonstrations on the same issue, but without damaging any public property,'' she noted.

She alleged that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had abolished a law, passed during her regime to make the parties concerned reimburse the damage done to property during protests.

Assuring her party's full support on the issue, she urged the Government to take constructive steps for the formation of the Railway division.

UNI