DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi has been lodged in a cramped cell with no facilities at all, NDA convener and former defence minister George Fernandes said on Sunday. Talking to newspersons outside the Central Prison in Chennai, where Karunanidhi was lodged, Fernandes, who is heading a three-member NDA team, said being in jail is not fun. ''I have been to jail innumerable times and I know how it is.''

Stating that Karunanidhi briefed him about the treatment meted out to him since his arrest, he said the former chief minister was lodged in a 12 ft by 12 ft cell and not in an airconditioned room as reported in a section of the press. There was only one fan and it was hot inside, he added.
Stating that he merely enquired the DMK President about his health, Fernandes said no politics was discussed.
''I would apprise the Prime Minister about my discussions with Mr Karunanidhi,'' he said.
Fernandes was accompanied by two other NDA members, minister of state Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra and minister of state for health A Raja and MGR ADMK leader Thirunavukkarasu. Bureau Report