Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

CM's advice for DMK, Congress

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JAN. 31 . During her two-hour reply to the discussion on the Governor's address in the Assembly, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, found time and patience to offer some words of advice to the main opposition, DMK and Congress.

The advice was actually couched as caution.

For the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, who, she pointed out, had been staying away from the House, she said: "A leader must lead from the front. A leader must lead by example." Recalling that Mr. Karunanidhi had on one occasion stated that his first priority was literature, not politics, Ms. Jayalalithaa said in that case he should quit as MLA and as party president.

Not only Mr. Karunanidhi, but also other DMK leaders — M.K. Stalin, K. Anbazhagan, Arcot Veerasamy — were not actively participating in the proceedings. The DMK deputy leader, Durai Murugan, sensing the mood of the other leaders, walked out of the House on the slightest pretext, she said.

But, Ms. Jayalalithaa reserved her sarcasm for the DMK boycott of the Sattankulam byelection. "You may be disappointed if you fail, your are doomed if you don't try. Failure is not the worst thing in life. The very worst is not to try."

For the Congress leader, S.R. Balasubramaniam, she had this to say: "Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful."

Ms. Jayalalithaa thought Mr. Balasubramaniam needed this advice as he had insisted that the Tamil Maanila Kamaraj Congress leader, D. Kumaradas, apologise to him during a debate yesterday.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Ryots will get 30 kg rice a month
• Secretariat on Marina in 2 years
• `Speaker changed ruling at AIADMK instance'
• TN seeks Rs. 2,000 crores Central relief
• 21 cataract patients face vision loss
• 3 independents file papers
• HC asks for report on marketing firm
• Samba crop in danger: T.N.
• CM's advice for DMK, Congress
• State severely hit: team
• 3 bills passed without discussion
• Crisis management begins in DMK

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu