Karunanidhi in denial mode, but Jayalalithaa targets Sonia on his pro-LTTE remark

Chennai, Apr.21 (ANI): Even as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has said that he has been misquoted on the the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and V.Prabhakaran issue, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo J Jayalalithaa has targeted Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying that she should have responded aggressively to it.

n an interview to CNN-IBN Senior Editor Veeraraghav in Madurai on Monday, Jayalalithaa asked: "Why is it that Mrs Sonia Gandhi remaining silent. Is she not the Congress President? Is she not the widow of Rajiv Gandhi? Is she not the Chairperson of the UPA?

"She should come out with a clear, explicit answer on these questions and she should tell the nation what she feels about it... Mr Karunanidhi's latest statements. Also she should tell the nation what she proposes to do about it as the President of the Congress party and as the Chairperson of the UPA," she added.

he further said that Karunanidhi seemed to be unaware of his duties and responsibilities as a Chief Minister.

"He is behaving and talking in a most irresponsible manner. You ask me whether the police should take action against him. You forget that he is the Chief Minister of this state who controls the police force. He is not only the Chief Minister, he is also the Home Minister and it is under the Home Department that the police department itself comes. So when a Chief Minister himself makes a statement like this which is simply outrageous, how do you expect the state police to take action against their own Chief Minister. It is not possible. It cannot be done," Jayalalithaa said.

"Mrs Sonia Gandhi cannot get away with just asking Mr Kapil Sibal or Singhvi or Jayanthi Natarajan to answer all these crucial questions. She is Congress President, she is the Chairperson of the UPA. As such she can't evade crucial issues like these by just remaining silent in a sphinx-like manner," Jayalalithaa said.

She also said that no party or leader had specifically sought her support for their candidature.

"As far as Mayawati is concerned, I have already said on quite a few occasions that there is nothing wrong in a person aspiring to be the prime minister of the country.

Since this is a democracy anyone can aspire to become the prime minister. Where Sharad Pawar is concerned, he is a very senior political leader. He has the necessary maturity, wisdom and experience to be a prime ministerial candidate," she said. (ANI)