Chennai:
It's not just the union government that's reeling from the near-daily disclosures of new scams.
In Tamil Nadu, which votes in a few months, the DMK is trying to defend its honour. Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has already asked the Governor for permission to prosecute chief minister M Karunanidhi for subverting the law to provide housing plots to people he favoured.
Mr Swamy says that the DMK government misused its discretionary quota to give houses and plots of land to benefit judges, bureaucrats, senior police officers and politicians. The quota is meant to be used for those engaged largely in social service, widows, freedom fighters and officers with impeccable record who don't already own homes.
Mr Karunanidhi has tried to pass the buck on every possible facet of the alleged scam. He has stressed that grants were made on the basis of the information supplied in housing forms, implying that if applicants lied, the government cannot be held responsible. He promised action against any such beneficiary who had misrepresented the facts.
The Chief Minister said in the Assembly today, that those who got houses or plots under the discretionary quota paid the same price just like anyone from the public who are chosen by draw of lots. He blamed it on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's regime for increasing the Government Discretionary Quota from 10 per cent to 15 per cent and released a list of those who got houses and plots of land under the same scheme when Jayalalithaa's AIADMK was in power.
So, like so many other politicians facing the heat, Mr Karunanidhi seems to believe that he has valid and strong defence in suggesting that the other party started it.
In Tamil Nadu, which votes in a few months, the DMK is trying to defend its honour. Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has already asked the Governor for permission to prosecute chief minister M Karunanidhi for subverting the law to provide housing plots to people he favoured.
Mr Swamy says that the DMK government misused its discretionary quota to give houses and plots of land to benefit judges, bureaucrats, senior police officers and politicians. The quota is meant to be used for those engaged largely in social service, widows, freedom fighters and officers with impeccable record who don't already own homes.
Mr Karunanidhi has tried to pass the buck on every possible facet of the alleged scam. He has stressed that grants were made on the basis of the information supplied in housing forms, implying that if applicants lied, the government cannot be held responsible. He promised action against any such beneficiary who had misrepresented the facts.
The Chief Minister said in the Assembly today, that those who got houses or plots under the discretionary quota paid the same price just like anyone from the public who are chosen by draw of lots. He blamed it on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's regime for increasing the Government Discretionary Quota from 10 per cent to 15 per cent and released a list of those who got houses and plots of land under the same scheme when Jayalalithaa's AIADMK was in power.
So, like so many other politicians facing the heat, Mr Karunanidhi seems to believe that he has valid and strong defence in suggesting that the other party started it.
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