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Karunanidhi is irked by Chidambaram's comments on Cauvery dispute

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi has taken strong exception to Tamil Maanila Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram's reported remark that he (Karunanidhi) attended the meeting on Cauvery dispute at New Delhi only at the TMC's insistence.

Addressing a party function at Ottanchatram in Dindugul district last night, Karunanidhi described it as "improper" and said he would seek an explanation from the TMC for the remarks made by Chidambaram at Tirunelveli two days ago.

Karunanidhi said at no point of time had the DMK pressurised its allies to stay with it or prevented them from quitting the alliance. The DMK had forged an alliance with several parties in the past, including the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Congress, he recalled.

Regretting that a veteran politician like A B Vajpayee had entered into an alliance with the All India Anna DMK, which was a symbol of corruption, Karunanidhi said the main agenda of AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha was to get the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu dismissed to evade corruption charges and FERA violation.

Jayalalitha had gone to the extent of casting aspersions about the sincerity of the Vajpayee government by accusing his close friends of accepting hefty bribes from newspaper barons for transfer of high-profile officials in the enforcement directorate, finance and revenue departments, he charged.

On Jayalalitha's statement that Karunanidhi had done wrong to the people of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue, the chief minister said for the first time a committee headed by the prime minister was set up to solve the issue.

Describing the agreement reached on the Cauvery water dispute during the meeting of chief minister's of riparian states convened by Vajpayee at New Delhi recently as "a victory to the farmers of all the four states", Karunanidhi said he would continue in his efforts to find a permanent solution to the issue. Jayalalitha had in 1993 accepted setting up of a committee comprising government secretaries as members, which, however, did not materialise, he pointed out.

UNI

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