The DMK has been reluctant -or
unable, as some would say -to take the moral high ground on corruption
following J Jayalalithaa's conviction. The party's response has been rather
lukewarm and it has baulked from launching a massive campaign while it would seem
that for the embattled DMK Jayalalithaa's legal problems are a godsend.
Observers cite the looming 2G
case over Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi as a reason for DMK's tentative
approach. But what may also be shackling the party is that at least 18 former
ministers of DMK are grappling with disproportionate assets cases registered
several years ago under the Prevention of Corruption Act that brought down
Jayalalithaa from power.
The DMK strongmen in the dock
include Duraimurugan, K Ponmudi, K N Nehru, E V Velu, M R K Panneerselvam and I
Periyasamy . Though most of the cases pertain to their stints as ministers in
the DMK cabinet between 1996 and 2001, not even one case has reached the actual
trial stage. Interestingly , at least five of them were discharged -an outcome
of a weak prosecution -from the corruption cases by the respective sessions
courts in their home districts in 2007 when the DMK returned to power.
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