NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
In Madras, it is Operation Payback.
During the five year rule of former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, a series of corruption charges had been slapped against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalitha Jayaram.
She was arrested, and jailed.
Now she is back and, following a landslide victory in the recent assembly elections, in a position to settle old scores against her bete noire.
Ergo, the dramatic arrest of Karunanidhi in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning.
"I had told you that there are many corruption deals that Karunanidhi and his men are involved in, that could make him remain in jail for the rest of his life," AIADMK MP K K Kaliappan told rediff.com this morning. "This is just the beginning."
Karunanidhi's arrest relates to alleged corruption in the commissioning of 10 flyovers in Madras during the DMK government's tenure. It is alleged that Karunanidhi's son and Madras Mayor M K Stalin amassed Rs 150 crore through santioning contracts to companies close to him.
"Karunanidhi used the Tansi land case to send Jayalalitha to jail. We are retaliating by sending him to jail on the flyover case," said a senior AIADMK officer bearer.
AIADMK sources said that a "crack-team" of the party, led by Jayalalitha herself, has been preparing "a corruption dossier" on Karunanidhi, Stalin and other DMK leaders over the past one month. Irregularities in the flyover deal top the list of a series of charges drawn up by this team.
And as Kaliappan warned, this is merely a "beginning".
Next on the agenda is a series of charges against senior ministers of the erstwhile Karunanidhi cabinet. K N Nehru, P Senguttuvan and Adiyur Selvara will be charged with procuring copra from farmers at low prices and its resale in the market at inflated rates.
Following this, cases will be filed against various DMK leaders, former ministers and legislators on various counts. To cite one instance, former animal husbandry minister P Senguttuvan and officials attached to the department are to be charged with malpractises in awarding tenders to pharmaceutical companies.
Even Union Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran, now in Apollo Hospital after a scuffle with the police posse that arrived at Karunanidhi's residence this morning to arrest the former chief minister, will be charge-sheeted.
In Maran's case, charges will be filed for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.
AIADMK leaders indicate that Maran's son Kalanidhi, who owns Sun TV, will face his share of charges.
Besides corruption, Karunanidhi and senior DMK leaders will find themselves confronted with another charge -- namely, their alleged lings with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose activists assassinated late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
A nexus is sought to be established between Karunandhi, Veerappan and the LTTE. Jayalalitha during her days in opposition has repeatedly accused Karunandhi of soft-pedalling on police operations to catch elusive sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
She has charged that the LTTE has been pumping in money and resources to help Veerappan stay safe in the forests. "Veerappan has not been caught because of Karunanidhi," AIADMK legislator Ramanidharan told rediff.com.
While Karunanidhi during his term in office ensured that Jayalalitha always remained on tenterhooks, it is now the latter's turn to unleash the corruption retaliation game on the Kalaingnar, his son Stalin, their relatives and DMK party leaders.
Read also:
Karunanidhi arrested
Jaya targets Stalin for starters
Jaya orders another probe against Karunanidhi
Sun TV journalist gets bail
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
