Coimbatore: Hitting out at arch-rival AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa over the issue of corruption, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said people had not forgotten how she flaunted her wealth in the past.
Coming down on Jayalalithaa for accusing him and his party of looting the exchequer, Karunanidhi, addressing an election meeting in Coimbatore, said people had not forgotten how she flaunted her wealth by wearing gold and diamond ornaments on her foster son's wedding during her 1991-96 regime.
"Where did the money come from? Was it her ancestral property? It was the people's and tax payers' money," Karunanidhi alleged.
Accusing Jayalalithaa of deliberately seeking adjournments over silly reasons for the last 12 years in the wealth case against her pending in a Bangalore court and waiting for the completion of polls, he said she knew that once she was convicted and sentenced in the case, she might not be able to contest elections.
"Conviction and sentence can only be postponed but cannot be stalled. Even if the special court exonerates her, the Government would approach the higher court, where we can expect her conviction and sentence," he said.
Karunanidhi asked the people to recollect how Jayalalithaa "suppressed" government employees, labourers and backward class people when she was Chief Minister.
He asked the electorate to compare the manifestos of both DMK and AIADMK, and decide whom to vote for.
"Who do you believe can fulfill these promises Karunanidhi or Jayalalithaa?" he asked. Blaming the previous AIADMK regime for the present power shortage in the state, Karunanidhi said that in a few years Tamil Nadu would become a state with surplus electricity.
He also announced several additional promises, describing them as an additional manifesto of DMK. These include supply of cattle feed and high quality coconut seedlings to farmers at subsidised rates and waiver of interest on housing loans taken from cooperative societies.
He assured that the DMK, if voted to power, would find out a permanent solution to the effluent discharge problem in hosiery town of Tirupur, where over 700 dyeing and bleaching units had been shut down on court orders.
The situation in Tirupur was a serious concern for him and the party, he added.
Karunanidhi said he was making the additional promises in view of demands from alliance parties and candidates. Karunanidhi said the opposition parties, particularly Jayalalithaa, always blamed him as a seeker of publicity for any good work, including holding of World Tamil Classical Conference last year in the city.
Taking a dig at Jayalalithaa for calling him by his name, Karunanidhi said despite the age difference, he always called her as 'ammeyar.' Replying to a request by President of Kongu Makkal Katchi 'Best' Ramasamy, an ally of DMK, Karunanidhi said he would soon pen the story of the great and brave fighter of the Kongu region, 'Dheeran Chinnamalai'.
He said he would donate the entire money generated from the book for the benefit of poor and backward classes.
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