CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Tuesday said there was "not an iota of truth" in the charge that he had tried to impose a candidate on the Pattali Makkal Katchi.

In a statement issued here, Mr. Karunanidhi said PMK founder S. Ramadoss was justified in asking whether the DMK chief could decide who should contest from another party, especially that of an ally.

Mr. Karunanidhi said if he had assumed that he had the right to do so and proceeded in that direction, then it would be wrong. But, he was explaining the sequence of events so that he was cleared of the charges.

Narrating the sequence of events, Mr. Karunanidhi said Dr. Ramadoss had written to him, seeking the post of deputy Mayorship in Chennai. But, since the DMK had already announced a Dalit to the post — Chennai has a considerable population of Dalits — he suggested that it was only appropriate that a Dalit from the PMK be allowed to contest. The PMK said if this were the case, it would not want to contest.

Explanation sought

In a separate statement, DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan said that the party had sought explanation from two more MLAs — R. Gandhi and Maalai Raja — based on complaints that they had violated party discipline during the local body elections.

The DMK had also expelled many functionaries spread across seven districts for violating party discipline.

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