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Karunanidhi warns of dire consequences if he's sacked

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The BJP-led government at the Centre may be ''stirring a hornet's nest'' if it acted against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu based on the Jain Commission findings, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told a crowded press conference in Madras on Saturday.

"They will fall into the trap of their own making," he said when asked if the Commission's final say and the Centre's Action Taken Report would be used to prepare the ground for the DMK's dismissal.

"(Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo) Jayalalitha has been demanding my exit ever since I came to power," Karunanidhi said, "It's sheer madness. There is nothing new in it!"

He claimed the ATR was 'politically motivated.' Asked whether he would move court against it, the chief minister answered he would face it 'politically.'

Karunanidhi claimed there was no case in the final report either against him or the DMK. Justice Jain has clarified 'there is no indictment in the interim report of any individual or organisation or party regarding any criminal conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi,' he pointed out.

Unlike at the time of the publication of the interim report, Karunanidhi did not have any adverse comments to pass on the final report. His complaints pertained only to the ATR. And he wanted to know why the team which probed the assassination did not interrogate former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chandra Shekhar, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, tantrik Chandra Swami and Jayalalitha herself.

"Why was I singled out in the ATR?" he asked.

Earlier in the day, the inaugural session of the ruling party's two-day general council meeting passed a strongly-worded resolution, condemning the ATR. Seconding the resolution, moved by party general secretary and Education Minister K Anbazhagan, former Union minister and MP T R Baalu said: "Reopening the assassination case with the appointment of a multi-disciplinary monitory committee, as suggested by the ATR, will only weaken the government's case against the 26 accused who have appealed against the death sentence before the Supreme Court."

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