DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Friday advised Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and officials to hold talks with the Centre to get electricity for Tamil Nadu, instead of approaching the Supreme Court on every issue.
Reacting to the Centre’s explanation in the Supreme Court that Tamil Nadu had to be blamed for the present power crisis as it had failed to strengthen the grid for receiving surplus power, Mr. Karunanidhi said the Chief Minister should give up the “habit of shifting blame on others.” He said in the beginning the Chief Minister sought to blame the previous DMK regime before pointing an accusing finger at the Centre. She later went to the Supreme Court on the ground that the Prime Minister had not responded to her letter seeking power for Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Karunanidhi said though it might not be difficult for the Centre to accept Tamil Nadu’s request for additional power supply to overcome the crisis, the same could not be achieved in a day or two.
“Engineers and officials know the fact well. Still the State government filed a petition in the Supreme Court,” he said, recalling a TANGEDCO official’s explanation to the media that Tamil Nadu had to wait till 2014 to receive power from the Centre without any hurdles.
He said despite knowing well in advance that the State would plunge into a power crisis, the State government failed to make arrangements such as procuring power from neighbouring States and increasing the capacity of power plants.
