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Jaya's assault against DMK far from over

George Iype in Madras

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's onslaught against her predecessor M Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government is far from over.

In spite of the political furore created by the arrest of the former chief minister, two Union ministers and thousands of DMK workers, Jayalalithaa's hatchet men are at work again.

At the centre of the raging controversy is Madras Corporation Commissioner J T Acharyulu, whose complaint against Karunanidhi, his son and Madras Mayor M K Stalin and some government officials led to their arrests in a pre-dawn swoop on Saturday by the state police.

Acharyulu, an Andhra Pradesh born officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, whom Jayalalithaa appointed as the commissioner only on June 20, is these days ensuring that the DMK-dominated corporation is on tenterhooks.

On Monday, basing its argument on Acharyulu's corruption complaint against the DMK leaders, the state government issued a show-cause notice to the corporation asking why its council should not be dissolved.

The show-cause notice has been pasted on the corporation headquarters at Ripon Building. The notice charges that the corporation council is not functioning democratically and so the government will supersede it.

"As the corporation has lost its credibility to function properly and has committed irregularities in performing its functions and misused its powers, it would badly affect the finances of the local body if it was allowed to function in the same way," the show cause notice reads.

Therefore, the show-cause notice asks Madras Mayor M K Stalin, jailed in the Madurai prison, to reply within 30 days.

According to the AIADMK government, Stalin passed 101 resolutions in the corporation council without any discussions on June 28.

"The Mayor has passed resolutions on more than one occasions without giving an opportunity for discussion among the opposition members," said the leader of the council's opposition parties P Vetrivel.

But DMK legislators in the council charge that the Jayalalithaa government's onslaught on the corporation is 'the handiwork' of Acharyulu.

"He is the root cause of all current problems. It is incredible that Acharyulu cooked up false cases against Karunanidhi and Stalin just nine days after he took charge," said DMK leader C V Malayan.

"Since the corporation council is dominated by the DMK, Jayalalithaa wants to dissolve it by using force and revengeful methods," he said.

Acharyulu's swift action in swooping down on the former Karunanidhi regime has not just upset the DMK leaders alone. The IAS fraternity in the state is agitated that the corporation commissioner included two former chief secretaries - K A Nambiar and A P Muthusami - in the complaint list.

"It is tragic that the Jayalalithaa government is using the corporation commissioner to victimise the IAS officers who worked in the former government," said a senior IAS officer.

According to officials, Jayalalithaa has a three-member hatchet team helping her to retaliate against the former DMK regime. They are Chief Secretary P Shankar, Director General of Police A Ravindranath and the Corporation Commissioner Acharyulu.

But ironically Acharyulu, who is considered quite close to Jayalalithaa, himself does not possess clean credentials. He started his career as an IAS officer as the collector of Tirunelveli.

During the Karunanidhi government's time, Acharyulu was arrested and suspended from service in connection with a corruption case.

"He has a corrupt past. In fact, Acharyulu was arrested and jailed on the day of his son's wedding," an officer revealed.

So many believe that Jayalalithaa, the first chief minister in India to be charge-sheeted under the Prevention of Corruption Act and who is now fighting a dozen corruption cases, has got a good company in Acharyulu.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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