Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members, including former legislators and Members of Parliament, alleged at a demonstration organised here on Wednesday by the party's youth wing that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Jayalalithaa was desperate to return to power.
The demonstration was part of a State-wide one organised by the youth wing to protest against the adjournments Ms. Jayalalithaa sought in the hearing of cases against her.
The speakers at the demonstration alleged that the seeking of the adjournments was a ploy to prolong the cases so that she could try and return to power before a verdict was pronounced.
Former Union Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources M. Kannappan described as untrue the charges Ms. Jayalalithaa reportedly made at a public meeting here last month that there was a scam in the implementation of the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for Life-saving Treatment. This scheme was a boon to poor people, he said.
Former Member of Parliament M. Ramanathan said the demonstration was organised to explain to the people what Ms. Jayalalithaa's intentions were with regard to the cases against her and facing the electorate.
Mr. Ramanathan accused her of misleading the people with her charges against the DMK Government and the Chief Minister.
He said the DMK and its true supporters took severe exception to the personal remarks she made against Mr. Karunanidhi and the members of his family.
Another former MP, Era Mohan, said Ms. Jayalalithaa was resorting to such methods only because her confidence in facing the electorate on genuine issues was low.
As for Ms. Jayalalithaa's claim that cases had been foisted on her, she should battle it out in the court and prove that these were false.
She should remember that courts did not rule in favour of false cases.
Former legislators P. Arun Kumar and S.S. Ponmudi said the public mood was in favour of the DMK in terms of the next Assembly elections. Tamil Nadu was now known for effective governance.
Those who could not stomach this were casting aspersions on the party and its Government, they said.
Former Member of the Rajya Sabha K.R. Subbaiyan, Deputy Mayor of Coimbatore N. Karthik, former legislator and incumbent District Panchayat President C.R. Ramachandran were among those who took part in the demonstration.
Our Staff Reporter in Tirupur adds:
Many hundreds of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members staged a demonstration in front of the Corporation office here on Wednesday in protest against the AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa for seeking ‘frequent adjournments' in a disproportionate wealth case against her.
The agitation was organized by the DMK youth wing in the district.
The protestors shouted slogans against Ms. Jayalalithaa for seeking adjournments on “some ground or the other and dragging on the case for many long years”.
Mayor K. Selvaraj and leaders of DMK youth wing took part in the agitation.
