Though the Election Commission of India is yet to notify the Assembly polls, the AIADMK and the DMK have sounded the war and the fight is on. Monday saw a wheel-chair bound 93-year-old Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the DMK chief, making a 30-seconds appearance in the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai in connection with a criminal defamation case filed by the Tamil Nadu Government against the former. The Government’s case is that a news item in Murasoli, the DMK mouthpiece, was defamatory and has tarnished the image of the Government as well as Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Though his lawyers had advised him to seek bail and an adjournment in the case, the DMK patriarch chose to appear before the court ostensibly to get public sympathy and launch his party’s campaign. Judge M Aadhinathan adjourned the case to March 10 .
Karunanidhi is all set to launch the election campaign himself as the “We for Ourselves” outreach by son Stalin has not yielded the desired result.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa exhorted the party cadre to spread out all over the State and ensure her return to power. “The year 2017 happens to be the birth centenary year of MGR. The best tributes we can pay to the late leader is to install the AIADMK Government during the MGR centenary year The AIADMK should register an unprecedented victory in the ensuing Assembly election. Such a victory would add glory to the AIADMK founder,” Jayalalithaa told the party cadre.
The only thing which could be said with certainty is that the DMK will have an alliance with the Congress. The move by the DMDK led by Vijayakanth is shrouded in mystery. An interesting development is the pat given by the Tamil Manila Congress to the ruling AIADMK for its rescue and relief measures during the Chennai floods of early December.
Interestingly, BS Gnanadesikan, close confidante of TMC chief GK Vasan too complimented the Jayalalithaa Government for the “brilliant rescue and relief operations” during the floods. “Though we all feared an epidemic, the health department brought everything under control. The Government deserves to be appreciated,” said Gnanadesikan.