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Thambidurai, Jethmalani stick to their guns, continue firing

Union Law Minister M Thambidurai has said if Union ministers, especially Ram Jethmalani, were for a stable government at the Centre, they should not let loose unwarranted remarks against a popular leader like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha.

Taking strong exception to the reported remarks made by Jethmalani against Jayalalitha, Thambidurai told the media in Karur in Tamil Nadu that it was not good for the urban development minister as well as the Vajpayee government.

He said Jethmalani was only a Rajya Sabha member and nobody knew to which party he (Jethmalani) belonged to. On the contrary, Jayalalitha is a mass leader, he pointed out, and added that Jethmalani has no right to criticise her.

Thambidurai claimed that it was Jayalalitha who had made known the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to the people in the remote corners of Tamil Nadu, getting that party a base in the state. She had also worked for the formation of the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre, he added.

He said because of Jayalalitha's efforts, there was a changed trend in national politics.

In New Delhi, unperturbed by the storm he had unleashed by his criticism of the AIADMK leader, Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani is reported to have launched a scathing attack on Jayalalitha. Reacting to the statement made against him by three Union ministers belonging to the AIADMK on Friday, Jethmalani said, "Who is Jayalalitha to make a statement about me? Who is she to attack my personal honour? Who has chargesheeted me?"

When it was pointed out to him that such verbal fusillade could put the coalition government in jeopardy, the minister told a newspaper, "I do not care for political consequences. I speak the truth and I made the statement to protect my honour. Just because she is supporting us does it mean she can make personal attacks on me? She owes me an apology."

Speaking to Rediff On The Net this evening, however, the minister sang a different tune, and said he has mended his fences with the AIADMK chief.

Speaking from his residence in Delhi, he said, "I had a telephonic conversation with her, and the differences between us have been resolved."

However, asked if Jayalalitha had apologised for her statement against him, as demanded by him, he said, "I can only say that I have no grievances against anybody."

Jethmalani said his sudden burst against Jayalalitha was because of a news clipping on a television show, where he saw the AIADMK chief stating that he had been chargesheeted in a case. "After all, I have to defend my honour. And that is why I showed my displeasure," he added.

Asked about his reaction to Janata Party chief, Dr Subramanian Swamy, who had echoed Jaya's lines about him, Jethmalani said, "I will see him in a day or two, and you will come to know soon."

BJP vice-president K R Malkani, when contacted for his views on the crisis brewing within the coalition, said, "I have nothing to comment on the dispute between Jethmalani and Jayalalitha."

Meanwhile, Dr Swamy today submitted to President K R Narayanan a list of Union ministers who are facing various criminal charges.

Some ministers have FIRs registered against them (like Ramakrishna Hegde), investigation have been completed against some and only political clearance is needed for prosecution (like Jethmalani), and yet others have been chargesheeted (L K Advani and Buta Singh), the Janata Party leader said.

He told the President that the prime minister should be advised to clearly demarcate his ' lakshman rekha ' so the nation knows where he (the PM) stands, the statement added.

UNI

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