ATR charges at Jaya8217;s behest: DMK

CHENNAI, Aug 1: Rejecting the Centre's Action Taken Report ATR on the Jain Commission of Inquiry, DMK leader and Chief Minister M Karun...

CHENNAI, Aug 1: Rejecting the Centre8217;s Action Taken Report ATR on the Jain Commission of Inquiry, DMK leader and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said that the BJP had sought to slander him in the report to appease its ally J Jayalalitha and save its Government at the Centre.

However, he said, the DMK would quot;tackle politicallyquot; the consequences of the report which has suggested that his Karunanidhi8217;s role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination may be probed by a multi-disciplinary monitoring agency.

quot;It ATR is nothing but political vendetta8230; a conspiratorial drama that neither the people of Tamil Nadu nor the entire country would believequot;, Karunanidhi said after the party8217;s general council adopted a significant resolution denouncing the ATR.

The resolution, quoting Delhi-based newspapers, said that the original draft of the ATR had no reference to Karunanidhi and it was later included at the quot;instigationquot; of a few Cabinet Ministers. Though the resolution did not name the ministers, senior DMK MP TR Baalu said that Jayalalitha8217;s quot;stoogequot; and Union Petroleum Minister Vazhapadi K Ramamurthy had insisted that DMK be slandered in the report.

An irritated Karunanidhi, reacting to Jayalalitha8217;s demand for his resignation in the wake of the Jain Commission8217;s final report and the ATR, shot back: quot;It is madness8230; She has been demanding my resignation since the day I assumed officequot;. Asked if the Centre was preparing the ground for dismissing the DMK government using the Jain panel report, Karunanidhi quipped: quot;If they dig their own graves, they will only fallquot;.

He said any attempt to disturb the Government would tantamount to quot;stirring a hornet8217;s nest.quot;

When the UF government had submitted an ATR on the Jain Commission8217;s interim report, where was the need for another ATR by the BJP government, he wondered. quot;If successive governments keep revising the ATRs, it will set a bad precedent,quot; he said.

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The Chief Minister, who was being prompted by former Union Minister and MP Murasoli Maran all through thehalf-hour media conference, said that the Jain Commission had only said that he had not been interrogated by the CBI8217;s Special Investigation Team. In fact, the commission had also said that former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar and P V Narasimha Rao, Jayalalitha and Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy had also not interrogated.

Stating that he had deposed before the Jain Commission for five days during which he was cross-examined by Vazhapadi Ramamurthy and AIADMK lawyers, he said he had given all necessary clarifications and the evidence available with him. quot;The Commission did not implicate mequot;.

Earlier in the day, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan, moving the resolution, said the DMK hoped that the BJP would and should act in a reasonable manner on the Jain Commission issue. Supporting the resolution, Baalu said the reopening of the assassination case would cast doubts over the authenticity of the probe.

Mishra to head team, Swamy sees RSS hand

The multi-disciplinary monitoring agencywhich the Government has decided to set up on the recommendation of the Jain Commission final report will be headed by CBI director Trinath Mishra. Mishra has been asked by the Government to submit a quot;proposalquot; to the Government before Parliament discusses the report on Aug 4. Mishra8217;s proposal, sources said, would give details of coordination among various agencies, funds required to carry out further investigations 8212; most of them abroad 8212; and logistical details including the number of people required.

Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy, today said the Jain Commission final report was quot;nothing more than malafide and biasedquot; and the ATR was quot;nothing but a device by RSS to use governmental agencies to try and subdue mequot;. quot;The Jain final report has been manipulated and in the end it carries no recommendations, but the ATR has deliberately dragged me to undermine my standing in Indian politicsquot;, he told a press conference here.