J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK general secretary, has said that the frequent shifting of stance by the DMK chief M Karunanidhi was because of the recent Income Tax notice of `113 crore slapped on his family-owned television network by the IT department.
According to Jayalalithaa, the Congress knows how to bring Karunanidhi to its “line’ as the DMK patriarch has many skeletons in his family cupboard.
The DMK president launched his 2014 lok Sabha election campaign on March 26 from Chintadripet, in the Central Chennai parliamentary constituency where Dayanidhi Maran, his grand nephew is the party candidate. People who had gathered in large numbers to listen to Karunanidhi where in for a surprise when he recited Hindi poems and spoke of the importance of the national language. Till then, the nonagenarian DMK leader was known as a virulent enemy of Hindi.
The Central Chennai constituency has a considerable Hindi speaking population, especially the migrants from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. This was the reason behind Karunanidhi’s new found love for the language. Those who thought Karunanidhi has mellowed down in his opposition towards Hindi were in for a jolt when the DMK patriarch in his election rally at Coimbatore came down heavily against Hindi as well as Narendra Modi..
“Hindi language should not enter Tamil Nadu. We have to teach Narendra Modi that there is no place for him and Hindi here. Neither Modi nor any other north Indian person can enter Tamil Nadu,” Karunanidhi declared at Coimbatore.
At Salem, Karunanidhi, who has been critical of the Congress, though mildly, gave a strong message to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that he was open for an alliance. “Don’t think we have left the Hand or the Hand has left us. We will not shy away from shaking hands with any Hand to uphold secular rule in the country,” Karunanidhi announced at Salem.
The reason for Karunanidhi’s love and affection for Congress was not much to seek. Jayalalithaa , revealed the secret behind Karunanidhi’s vault face at Coimbatore itself on Thursday. “The Congress knows how to tame and bring Karunanidhi to his knees. The Kalaignar TV network, owned by the Karunanidhi clan , has been slapped with a notice by the Income Tax department to pay Rs 113 crore. The TV network has been asked to pay Rs 113.19 crore within 20 days. The Enforcement directorate, the IT department and the CBI has found that kickback amounting to Ra 200 crore from the 2G Spectrum allocation has been routed to the Kalaignar TV network,” said Jayalalithaa in her election rally.