Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Thursday challenged All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa to move a no-confidence motion against his government.
In a rejoinder to the AIADMK leader's speech in Coimbatore on Tuesday, Mr. Karunanidhi referred to her description of the DMK government as “minority government,” a term she had been using for four years. “If the DMK government were a minority government and Ms. Jayalalithaa had courage, should she not have brought in a no-confidence motion against the DMK government and established her majority?”
On her criticism that during the DMK government, the people and the State had not experienced any progress and there was no promotion of Tamil language, the DMK leader gave an elaborate comparison of the allocation of funds for different departments during 2005-2006 [when Ms Jayalalithaa was Chief Minister] and 2009-2010. For example, agriculture was allotted Rs.801 crore during 2005-2006 whereas it was given Rs.1,836 crore in 2009-2010. In respect of rural development, the figures of allocation were Rs.2,828 crore and Rs.5,665 crore for the given years.
Since 2006 [when the DMK government assumed charge], four Anna Universities of Technology were opened, 14 government arts and science colleges established and six medical colleges and 11 engineering colleges set up. Four municipalities were upgraded municipal corporations and the Central Institute of Classical Tamil was located in Chennai.
As for agricultural production, Mr. Karunanidhi said that it was during the AIADMK rule that production fell. This was because Ms. Jayalalithaa could not get the State's share of Cauvery waters.
He explained how various measures of his government had resulted in increase in rice production. Adverting to Ms Jayalalithaa's criticism of his family members, Mr. Karunanidhi said while some were in politics, some others were in business. He was at a loss to understand if she found fault with this.
