Karunanidhi creating illusion that people will vote for money: Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Sunday alleged that fear of defeat was forcing Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to splurge money to change the mind of voters. “In the last three days it has been raining money in all the 234 constituencies. He is trying to create an illusion that people will take the cash and vote for the DMK,” she said and narrated an incident from the Ramayana. “Ravana created an illusory Sita and ‘killed' her in front of Rama. Though Rama swooned at the sight, Vibishana explained the truth to Rama,” she said. Mr. Karunanidhi was trying to create a similar illusion. Calling upon her partymen and alliance partners not to be overawed by the ruling party's money power, she said the DMK would certainly lose the elections. “Whatever the sums offered, people will not change their mind,” she said while campaigning in the city and suburbs. Beginning her campaign at Mylapore, she covered Sholinganallur, Velachery, Tambaram, Pallavaram, Alandur, Saidapet and T. Nagar constituencies. Candidates from nearby constituencies were also present. Switching to an interactive mode, Ms. Jayalalithaa elicited replies through a series of questions from the large number of people who had turned up to listen to her. “Do you think Mr. Karunanidhi will improve the law and order situation?” and “Do you think the DMK government will take over cable TV operations?” were some of her questions. And after getting a ‘No' as reply, she declared she alone could fulfil the expectations of people. She said Mr. Karunanidhi's achievements consisted only of making one son the Deputy Chief Minister, another son a Union Minister, getting a Cabinet berth for his grand-nephew and making his daughter a Rajya Sabha member. She alleged that corruption was rampant, and that law and order had taken a backseat because anti-social elements were given a free hand. “If you can't defeat the DMK now, when you will get the opportunity to do it? This is the question posed by the conscience of the good people. We threw away the British rule in the past. Now we have a duty to remove this family rule,” she said.