Chennai:
DMK chief M Karunanidhi has clarified that getting early bail for daughter Kanimozhi is a priority, and tacitly backed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram after his name surfaced in a controversial 2G note sent to the Prime Minister's Office by the Finance Ministry.
"I will not support any move to unseat any union minister from Tamil Nadu," said the DMK chief.
Mr Karunanidhi's party has been hit hard by the 2G spectrum allocation scam, and the seven-year-old alliance with the Congress has been under intense pressure. The DMK patriarch is reportedly miffed about daughter Kanimozhi's arrest and her subsequently being sent to jail. Also in jail is prominent party leader and former Telecom Minister A Raja. Karunanidhi's grand-nephew, Dayanidhi Maran, was also forced to quit the Union Cabinet over his alleged role in the scam.
On a day when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) pressed for more stringent charges against Raja and other accused in the 2G scam, Mr Karunanidhi said," I don't want to attribute motives to CBI's stand on Raja and others. This is a legal issue."
(Read: CBI seeks fresh charges against Raja, others)He added, "We are trying for an early bail for Kanimozhi. I will definitely meet Sonia Gandhi after court issues are over."
Mr Karunanidhi has repeatedly made his displeasure known over the continued imprisonment of his daughter and had even blamed the Centre for her plight. The DMK refused to tie up with the Congress for next month's local polls in Tamil Nadu, though the alliance continues at the Centre, where the DMK has 18 MPs lending support to the Congress-led UPA government.