- News>
- Newspapers
Jaya men `ban` Aiyar from constituency: The Asian Age
New Delhi, Oct 17: The unseemly spat between Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha and Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar is turning into a Bollywood drama, with threats and counter-threats marring what was a long-standing political partnership.
New Delhi, Oct 17: The unseemly spat between Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha and Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar is turning into a Bollywood drama, with threats and counter-threats marring what was a long-standing political partnership.
"If she cannot stand the heat, then she better move out of the kitchen," said Mr Aiyar to The Asian Age soon after Tamil Nadu newspapers carried a warning from a AIADMK legislator warning the Congress leader not to enter his constituency Mayiladuturai.
Mr Aiyar insisted he would not be cowed down, or threatened by Ms Jayalalitha who he accused of running a completely "fascist" government. Goons had attacked Mr Aiyar shortly after an exchange of words with the chief minister at an official government function and the subsequent threats have definitely put a question mark on his relationship with the parliamentary constituency from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999 largely due to Ms Jayalalitha, who personally campaigned for him. Four of the six Assembly segments are with the AIADMK, which has now clearly told him not to enter Mayiladuturai. Asked about this, Mr Aiyar said that the question should rather be posed to the chief minister.
The spat is expected to further impact on the not very sound Congress-AIADMK relations, with the DMK stepping in to embrace Mr Aiyar and being among the first to sympathise with him over the assault. The falling out between the two can be traced back to a controversial
article where Mr Aiyar, with his penchant for personal remarks, wrote that Ms Jayalalitha as chief minister had presented an elephant to the famed Guruvayoor temple in Kerala, and that if he became chief minister he would "present Ms Jayalalitha" to the same temple! This appeared in a Kolkata newspaper 14 months ago. Since then neither has spoken to the other, with the Nagapattinam function being the first occasion where both leaders appeared on the same platform.
Mr Aiyar irked Ms Jayalalitha by arriving late for the function. He then presented her with a written memorandum on the Cauvery waters issue on which both, as he said, have fundamental differences. He then went on to make his speech, but the by now irate chief minister had decided to join issue with him. The Congress leader said that after her attack on him, he went up and told her: "I was invited to a development function that you have needlessly politicised." The chief minister reportedly replied: "I don’t wish to discuss these issues with you." To which, in Mr Aiyar’s own words, "I sneered at her, turned on my heel and walked out." The chief minister has claimed that he used obscene and abusive language.
Ms Jayalalitha, of course, has not sourced the differences to the article but to the differences over the Cauvery waters issue. Mr Aiyar described the chief minister’s "vicious" attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi as the genesis of the problem as it prompted him to write the supposedly offensive article. He said that the chief minister had 14 months to respond to the article in any manner she chose, maintaining that "harsh words" are an integral part of a democracy that also provides for disagreement in like manner. He said that he had also praised Ms Jayalalitha in his articles, and she had been "delighted" with his defence of her in her direct conflict with DMK president M. Karunanidhi.
At the moment there appears to be little sign of the tensions easing between the two leaders, with Mr Aiyar saying that his chest was "broad" enough to absorb the abuses she wanted to hurl at him. His relations with the DMK are dismal, and despite the show of commiseration it is unlikely that he will find support from Mr Karunanidhi for his politics in Tamil Nadu. Mr Aiyar holds the chief minister directly responsible for the "murderous" assault on him, while she has accused him of using language that "no self-respecting lady" could repeat. In her case, the story lies in the written warning issued by her legislator to Mr Aiyar not to enter Mayiladuturai.
"If she cannot stand the heat, then she better move out of the kitchen," said Mr Aiyar to The Asian Age soon after Tamil Nadu newspapers carried a warning from a AIADMK legislator warning the Congress leader not to enter his constituency Mayiladuturai.
Mr Aiyar insisted he would not be cowed down, or threatened by Ms Jayalalitha who he accused of running a completely "fascist" government. Goons had attacked Mr Aiyar shortly after an exchange of words with the chief minister at an official government function and the subsequent threats have definitely put a question mark on his relationship with the parliamentary constituency from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999 largely due to Ms Jayalalitha, who personally campaigned for him. Four of the six Assembly segments are with the AIADMK, which has now clearly told him not to enter Mayiladuturai. Asked about this, Mr Aiyar said that the question should rather be posed to the chief minister.
The spat is expected to further impact on the not very sound Congress-AIADMK relations, with the DMK stepping in to embrace Mr Aiyar and being among the first to sympathise with him over the assault. The falling out between the two can be traced back to a controversial
article where Mr Aiyar, with his penchant for personal remarks, wrote that Ms Jayalalitha as chief minister had presented an elephant to the famed Guruvayoor temple in Kerala, and that if he became chief minister he would "present Ms Jayalalitha" to the same temple! This appeared in a Kolkata newspaper 14 months ago. Since then neither has spoken to the other, with the Nagapattinam function being the first occasion where both leaders appeared on the same platform.
Mr Aiyar irked Ms Jayalalitha by arriving late for the function. He then presented her with a written memorandum on the Cauvery waters issue on which both, as he said, have fundamental differences. He then went on to make his speech, but the by now irate chief minister had decided to join issue with him. The Congress leader said that after her attack on him, he went up and told her: "I was invited to a development function that you have needlessly politicised." The chief minister reportedly replied: "I don’t wish to discuss these issues with you." To which, in Mr Aiyar’s own words, "I sneered at her, turned on my heel and walked out." The chief minister has claimed that he used obscene and abusive language.
Ms Jayalalitha, of course, has not sourced the differences to the article but to the differences over the Cauvery waters issue. Mr Aiyar described the chief minister’s "vicious" attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi as the genesis of the problem as it prompted him to write the supposedly offensive article. He said that the chief minister had 14 months to respond to the article in any manner she chose, maintaining that "harsh words" are an integral part of a democracy that also provides for disagreement in like manner. He said that he had also praised Ms Jayalalitha in his articles, and she had been "delighted" with his defence of her in her direct conflict with DMK president M. Karunanidhi.
At the moment there appears to be little sign of the tensions easing between the two leaders, with Mr Aiyar saying that his chest was "broad" enough to absorb the abuses she wanted to hurl at him. His relations with the DMK are dismal, and despite the show of commiseration it is unlikely that he will find support from Mr Karunanidhi for his politics in Tamil Nadu. Mr Aiyar holds the chief minister directly responsible for the "murderous" assault on him, while she has accused him of using language that "no self-respecting lady" could repeat. In her case, the story lies in the written warning issued by her legislator to Mr Aiyar not to enter Mayiladuturai.