ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Parliament will not okay TN government's dismissal, says Moopanar

The Tamil Maanila Congress has strongly opposed the demand of the All India Anna DMK and its allies for the dismissal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Talking to newspersons after a meeting of the party's newly-appointed office-bearers and district committee presidents, TMC president G K Moopanar said there was no national or state interest involved in AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha's demand for the dismissal of the DMK regime in the state. Only her personal interest is involved, he added.

Senior TMC leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, who was also present, said there was no constitutional or legal basis for the dismissal of the DMK government.

After the Supreme Court judgment in the S R Bommai case, dismissal of any state government has to be validated by both Houses of Parliament. The dismissal move will not get through the Lok Sabha, and certainly not in the Rajya Sabha, he added.

Stating that the dismissal of a state government and the dissolution of the state assembly were two separate issues, he said, if the House was restored by a court order, it would again elect Karunanidhi as chief minister. This could be the reason why the Vajpayee government is hesitating to dismiss the DMK government, he added.

The two leaders were responding to questions from newspersons in the wake of Home Minister L K Advani's invitation to Jayalalitha to come to Delhi on June 19 to discuss her dismissal demand.

Moopanar said he was not against the discussions between the Bharatiya Janata Party and AIADMK leaders, since they were allies.

On the AIADMK's allegation about a nexus between the DMK government and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Chidambaram said there was no evidence of any ISI activity in Tamil Nadu.

The ISI has been active in Delhi, Gujarat, Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Punjab. Even if there was any activity, it was the responsibility of the both the state and Union governments to combat it, he added.

Asked whether Jayalalitha would bring down the Vajpayee government because of its unwillingness to dismiss the DMK government so far, Moopanar said nobody wanted an election now.

The AIADMK-led front's walkouts and boycott of Parliament had now become routine and nobody wanted to take them seriously.

On the demand by the AIADMK-led delegation to send a parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka in order to get the Sri Lankan military troops withdrawn from the Tamil areas, Moopanar said his party opposed it. The Sri Lankan Tamil issue was raised probably to strengthen the AIADMK-led alliance, he added.

Chidambaram pointed out that the Indian government's view from the Rajiv Gandhi days was to resolve the ethnic crisis within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.

UNI

EARLIER REPORTS:

Swamy urges Jayalalitha to withdraw support to Vajpayee government
BJP buys peace with Jaya, sells Karunanidhi downstream
Jaya sets deadline for Karunanidhi's dismissal
Law and order situation satisfactory, says TN governor
Dismissal threats don't bother me, says Karunanidhi

Tell us what you think of this report