Chennai: BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundarrajan tore into the DMK chief M. Karunanidhi criticising his “double standards” on Emergency and jibed if he has forgotten about the Emergency imposed by the Congress when his party aligned with it.
The DMK stalwart seemed to court trouble from the saffron party for his remarks on the Centre’s ban on the NDTV India for its coverage on the Pathankot attacks.
A day after Mr Karunanidhi reacted to the Centre’s decision and commented that the one-day ban on the TV channel reminded him of the Emergency days and warned that stifling of freedom of expression would lead to a “second Emergency,” Dr Tamilisai reacted sharply with her caustic remarks.
“Did Kalaignar (Mr Karunanidhi), who says he is reminded of second Emergency following the ban on a TV channel, forget about the Emergency imposed by Congress when he aligned with it,” she asked.
Waging a war with Mr Karunanidhi on her official Twitter handle, in Tamil, she mocked the DMK president, “why did not this freedom of expression come to your mind when Dinakaran (newspaper office) was torched and Dinamalar (Tamil daily) was attacked? Has the nation’s security become a question mark?”
The attack on Dinakaran office left three persons dead in 2007 when the sibling rivalry in then ruling DMK turned violent after the alleged supporters of Mr Alagiri, son of Mr Karunanidhi, attacked the Dinakaran office and set afire protesting against a controversial survey published by the Maran family-owned newspaper, indicating a majority preference to Mr M.K. Stalin (another of Mr Karunanidhi’s son) as Mr Karunanidhi’s “possible political heir.”
NTDV issue: BJP leader assails Karuna’s stand
The BJP’s national secretary H Raja has accused the DMK president M Karunanidhi with suffering from ‘selective amnesia’ over the issue of a ban on a television channel in the wake of its coverage of the Pathankot army camp attack recently.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Mr.Raja took strong exception over Mr.Karunanidhi’s remarks on the ban imposed on NDTV and asked whether such bans were not imposed during the Congress-led UPA Government at the center. People will not have any faith on such remarks of Mr.Karunanidhi, the BJP leader pointed out.
He also took strong exception over Mr Stalin’s reported move to organise a rail roko agitation for the sake of farmers and said the DMK was the sole reason for Tamil Nadu “turning into a desert (in the context of the Cauvery waters issue).”
