Chennai: Defending its senior leader MK
Stalin for his comments against AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, the
DMK on Tuesday said the Deputy Chief Minister had only made a "true
and fair comment" on her marital status, which could "never be
construed as defamatory or derogatory".
Replying to a EC notice to Stalin, DMK`s legal wing
secretary RS Bharathy said "a statement is not defamatory
when it is true. It is a fact that she continues to remain
single. The status is not at all denigrated in the statement".
The EC had issued a notice on Sunday on the basis of a
complaint by AIADMK recently.
AIADMK had complained to the EC saying Stalin had been
quoted as saying that since Jayalalithaa was not married, she
was not interested in funding other women`s weddings.
"The entire speech explains the importance of marriage
assistance to unmarried girls who hail from poor background in
Tamil Nadu," the reply, addressed to RK Srivastava,
Secretary, EC, New Delhi, said.
Jayalalithaa "envies" Karunanidhi and his family because
she does not have a family, the reply alleged.
It said that the scheme, first introduced by DMK in 1989
with a financial assistance of Rs 5,000, was "totally stopped"
by Jayalalithaa in 1991. While DMK revived it in 1996,
Jayalalithaa stopped it in 2001, it said.
Contending that Stalin`s speech should be understood in the
context, it said AIADMK advocate Manoj Pandian, who had filed
the complaint, had truncated and taken out a portion.
"It should also be understood that such an important policy
decision made by the DMK government providing marriage
assistance was carelessly and without foresight discontinued
by AIADMK government," the reply said.
"The entire speech of Stalin should be read and understood
as the reflection of anguish expressed by the members of
general public against the discontinuance by Jayalalithaa of
such a noble scheme meant to help the girls of marriageable
age," it said.
Further, "the unsubstantiated and villifying remarks"
made by Jayalalithaa should also be read before reading the
speech of Stalin in order to understand the context in which
the statements were made. "Hence, we request the ECI to drop
the proceedings," it said.
Earlier, the EC had slapped notices on Jayalalithaa and her
ally and DMDK founder Vijayakant for allegedly making personal
remarks against Karunanidhi.
PTI
