Chennai: Wearing a broad smile, DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Thursday distributed sweets to party seniors and cadre gathered at his upscale Cenotaph Road residence in the heart of the city celebrating his half-sister Kanimozhi’s exoneration in the high-profile 2G spectrum allocation case.
Stalin emerged from his bungalow minutes after special CBI judge O.P. Saini acquitted Kanimozhi, former telecom minister A. Raja and Kalaignar TV managing director Sharad Reddy and declared that the ruling has “demolished the concerted, vicious campaign built upon a pile of lies against DMK” by vested interests.
Stalin led the DMK’s celebrations from the front as working president burying his differences with Kanimozhi. The acquittal of Kanimozhi might exert pressure on Stalin to elevate her in the party.
“The DMK now stands vindicated,” Stalin said, as DMK cadres burst crackers and distributed sweets across Tamil Nadu. Not just Stalin's residence, Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence, Kanimozhi's CIT Colony bungalow, Anna Arivalayam and other places related to DMK erupted in joy with cadre going berserk in celebrating the “historic verdict.”
Stalin also showed “extraordinary leadership” by immediately rushing to Gopalapuram residence and Anna Arivalayam to share the news and seek “blessings” from party chief M. Karunanidhi and general secretary K. Anbhazhagan. He also happily posed for pictures and said his father was “extremely elated” to hear the news and expressed his happiness on the DMK's pride being restored.
“A historic verdict has been delivered,” Stalin said. Later, he took to micro-blogging site Twitter and wrote: “Deeply delighted by the historical judgment by Hon'ble Special Judge Thiru O P Saini, CBI court in 2G spectrum. Today's verdict has demolished the concerted, vicious campaign built upon a pile of lies against DMK by vested interests and now DMK stands vindicated.”
“It was a planned (attempt) to insult and finish off the DMK. It is a matter of joy that all of them have been acquitted,” Stalin said, maintaining that 2G was always a “political case.”
The mood in DMK camp was euphoric as the party feels the verdict has come at the “right time” as the party hopes Tamil Nadu might face general elections much before the country goes for parliamentary polls in 2019. While Kanimozhi and Raja maintained that their stand have been vindicated, DMK's principal secretary and deputy floor leader in the Assembly Durai Murugan said the party's victory run would not be stopped from now on.
