Chennai: In a fresh war of words between the Chief Minister and DMK chief over the coming Assembly session scheduled on December 4, CM O. Panneerselvam on Thursday assured Karunanidhi that the if the DMK legislators behave properly in the House and take part in healthy debates, their rights would be duly protected.“On the contrary, if the DMK legislators try to infringe upon rights of other legislators and do not maintain the decorum of the House, they would invite appropriate action,” Panneerselvam said in a release.
Responding to the veiled threat, Karunanidhi said that while the DMK party had been a regular part of the state Assembly since 1957 and was the ruling party ten years later, violence and gross misconduct took place in the House only after his close friend and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran passed away. “Police had to enter the Assembly only for the first time in 1988 when legislators from AIAMDK (J) and AIADMK (Janaki) parties converted the House into a marketplace and attacked each other,” he claimed.
Karunanidhi challenged CM to provide appropriate seating arrangement for him in the Assembly and then send notice if he had the courage to face him.
The Assembly session has been convened by the government following demands by DMK treasurer Stalin and later party chief Karunanidhi to discuss important issues including hike in milk price. The DMK had sought special seating arrangement for their chief considering his health condition.
Panneerselvam, responding to an earlier communiqué by the DMK chief besmirching him as a benami CM and the government as one run by benamis, obviously referring to former chief secretary and former DGP continuing in the governance as special advisors, retorted that Karunanidhi was deeply buried in inter-family politics that he was losing focus and misunderstanding the meaning of words.
Proceeding further to explain the dictionary definition of ‘benami’, the CM stated that the word was used when any sale or purchase was made in the name of the someone other than the actual owner. “Serving the government and holding the post of CM is not anybody’s right or privilege but a duty to perform. How can that be called benami?” he asked.
Clarifying the government’s stand on roping in retired bureaucrats as special advisors, Panneerselvam said the roles of state bureaucrats and special advisors were clearly documented and that there was no ambiguity.
“While a special advisor has the responsibility of guiding the government in taking policy decisions, he or she does not have any access to government files. The access to government data and the responsibility for making decisions lies sorely with bureaucrats,” the Chief Minister said. Taking a dig at the DMK chief for giving his son and party treasurer Stalin the post of deputy CM in the previous regime, Panneerselvam asked if that did not amount to having a proxy.
