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Lay off, BJP tells Karunanidhi

Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy has cautioned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi against dragging the BJP-led Union government into corruption cases.

Reacting to the allegation that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was trying to rescue All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha from corruption cases, following the Centre's submission to the Supreme Court that it alone had the authority to appoint special courts, Krishnamurthy asked the chief minister to stop making charges without 'properly understanding' the legal issues involved.

The state government and the chief minister ought to have consulted the legal department in this matter, he said.

One could understand Karunanidhi's relentless fight against Jayalalitha as, in the present situation, her AIADMK posed a challenge to his government, Krishnamurthy added.

Neither the BJP nor the Vajpayee government were least interested in the political fight between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the AIADMK, he said.

He recalled that the BJP government had introduced the Lok Pal Bill in Parliament, bringing in its purview even the prime minister. This reflected the party's stand on corruption.

The Centre has only made known its intention to assert its statutory authority and responsibility under Section 4(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he added.

UNI

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