DMK chief M Karunanidhi had earlier asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to respond to Piyush Goyal's charge. (File photo)
Chennai:
Continuing the war of words over Union Minister Piyush Goyal's accusation that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was "inaccessible", DMK president M Karunanidhi today said she should answer him rather than her ministerial colleagues pitching in.
"Is it not proper for the Chief Minister to come forward to answer the accusation of the Union Ministers?" he asked in a statement.
Mr Karunanidhi referred to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar too supporting Mr Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Ms Jayalalithaa or state ministers in the last 22 months of his tenure.
"What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Mr Javadekar, the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, had said in Delhi yesterday.
Referring to state ministers O Panneerselvam and Natham R Viswanathan's rebuttal at Mr Goyal, Mr Karunanidhi said, "Their statements were polemic against Union ministers, which did not answer the accusations."
He asked whether Mr Goyal had sought an appointment with Ms Jayalalithaa to discuss the state's power issues and questioned as to "why an opportunity was not given to him to meet her."
Slamming Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Viswanathan, he asked, "Could these Ministers easily meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa?"
The DMK chief had earlier asked Ms Jayalalithaa to respond to Mr Goyal's charge.
Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Viswanathan had slammed Mr Goyal for seeking political mileage and indulging in cheap politics.
"Is it not proper for the Chief Minister to come forward to answer the accusation of the Union Ministers?" he asked in a statement.
Mr Karunanidhi referred to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar too supporting Mr Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Ms Jayalalithaa or state ministers in the last 22 months of his tenure.
"What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Mr Javadekar, the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, had said in Delhi yesterday.
Referring to state ministers O Panneerselvam and Natham R Viswanathan's rebuttal at Mr Goyal, Mr Karunanidhi said, "Their statements were polemic against Union ministers, which did not answer the accusations."
He asked whether Mr Goyal had sought an appointment with Ms Jayalalithaa to discuss the state's power issues and questioned as to "why an opportunity was not given to him to meet her."
Slamming Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Viswanathan, he asked, "Could these Ministers easily meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa?"
The DMK chief had earlier asked Ms Jayalalithaa to respond to Mr Goyal's charge.
Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Viswanathan had slammed Mr Goyal for seeking political mileage and indulging in cheap politics.
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