Chennai, Sept 23: Condemning Tamil Nadu government's decision to invoke provisions of Pota against Union Minister and MDMK leader M Kannappan, DMK today said that it was "yet another proof of the act's misuse." DMK president M Karunanidhi told reporters that DMK had been demanding the repeal of the act on the plea that it was being misused in Tamil Nadu. The state government's decision to take action against Kannappan only strengthened the party's demand for the repeal of the controversial act, he said.

Even when the law was enacted in parliament, DMK had expressed apprehensions on its misuse. Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had stated that the act would be reviewed if its misuse by state governments was proved, Karunanidhi said and asked whether the Centre needed any more proof. On BJP's rejection of DMK's demand to repeal the act, he said that the same BJP had demanded the repeal of Tada, enacted by Rajiv Gandhi government. "Their double standards was not acceptable," he said.

Defending DMK's decision to hold a "jail bharo" agitation on December 1 demanding repeal of Pota, the DMK president said the agitation was not against NDA government at the Centre, of which his party was a constituent. Bureau Report