Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa came face to face for the first time when the AIADMK leader attended the Assembly on Saturday.
CHENNAI: Archrivals M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa came face to face for the first time in 17 years when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader attended the Assembly proceedings on Saturday. Jayalalithaa, who had decided to temporarily stay away from the proceedings after her party lost the polls, took up “the challenge” after all other AIADMK legislators were suspended following unruly scenes in the House on Friday.
She arrived in the house at 9:30 am and took a fourth row seat in the block of AIADMK benches that was completely empty. Karunanidhi walked in soon after. The two leaders, throughout the course of the session, did not so much as glance in each other’s direction. Though she demanded 95 minutes time to speak, Speaker R Avudaiappan allotted her 30 minutes.
DMK ministers and Congress MLAs frequently interrupted Jayalalithaa as she lashed out at the DMK government. Only at one point, when Jayalalithaa was speaking about the anti-conversion law, did Karunanidhi interrupt her. “The previous AIADMK government had repealed the anti-conversion law. Now you say you will repeal it. What is the need for digging out a corpse to bury it again?” she asked, to which Karunanidhi replied: “The corpse need to be dug out when there are suspicions about the death.”
On Friday, the Assembly witnessed acrimonious scenes as AIADMK and Congress MLAs came close to exchanging blows. At one point, AIADMK legislator Sekar Babu moved menacingly towards Karunanidhi, prompting some DMK ministers to form a security ring around the chief minister.
After the AIADMK legislators were suspended for the rest of the session, Jayalalithaa told reporters that she would attend the proceedings on Saturday. “I am here to raise the voice of the AIADMK and speak the truth,” she said.
The last time Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa met face-to-face was on March 25, 1989 when the Assembly plunged into mayhem. As tempers ran high during that budget session, Karunanidhi’s spectacles were broken. DMK members had allegedly manhandled Jayalalithaa, who came out of the Assembly with her hair dishevelled. “I will not enter this House till women are treated with respect,” she said. She returned to the Assembly in 1991 as the chief minister, but Karunanidhi kept away from the proceedings. Jayalalithaa lost the 1996 elections. In 2001, when she returned to power, Karunanidhi again chose to abstain.
Their aversion to coming face to face with each other is well known. During the wedding of superstar Rajnikant’s daughter, Jayalalithaa attended the ‘muhurat’, while Karunanidhi attended the reception. Yet another occasion was wedding of actor Surya’s sister. Karunanidhi refused to attend as he was angry at the fact that Jayalalithaa was invited too. Finally it took the suspension of 60 MLAs to bring them face to face.
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