Karunanidhi reacts cautiously: May or may not be political vendetta

Amid uproar over the Central Bureau of Investigation’s raids against his son M K Stalin, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday gave a guarded reaction on whether the action was a case of political vendetta.

The DMK patriarch said it could be possible that the raids happened without the knowledge of the United Progressive Alliance government.

At the same time, Karunanidhi, in a separate statement, said the decision to withdraw support to the UPA was taken unanimously after prolonged consultations involving senior party leaders, and rejected reports that Stalin had insisted on the decision.

"Generally, DMK is being subjected to acts of political vendetta. This may or may not be one of such acts," the 88-year old DMK patriarch told reporters while reacting to the CBI raids.

He, however, indicated that he believed that the action had been taken without the government's knowledge, as claimed by some central ministers.

"If the central minister says that the raids happened without the knowledge (of the government), I cannot say I cannot believe it," he said while replying to a question.

Reacting to the raids, Stalin, the DMK treasurer, said the agency’s action reflected 'political vendetta', as it happened two days after the party pulled out of UPA, and he was ready to face the case legally.

Fielding a volley of questions, Karunanidhi said he came to know about the raids only at 10 am. He also referred to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram disapproving of the CBI action.

When asked whether he considered the CBI raid to be an act of political vendetta, in view of DMK quitting the UPA, Karunanidhi said several political leaders had criticised it, and he agreed with their views.

To a question on whether the raid will be construed as political vendetta considering the Congress' ‘track record’ against estranged allies, the DMK leader said acts of political vengeance were not only confined to Delhi but also took place in Tamil Nadu, an apparent reference to land grabbing and other cases filed by the state police against several DMK leaders.