I had no protection in House, says Jayalalithaa

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 23. The Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, today sought to make a distinction between the boycott of the Assembly by the DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and her staying away from the House in 1989-91.

In a statement, she said she had initially attended the House during 1989 unfailingly.

But, on March 25, 1989, she was ``brutally attacked'' inside the House. Only after that incident, on realising that she had no protection in the House, did she decide to not attend the proceedings.

Actually, she was attacked because she wanted to discharge her duties as the leader of the Opposition responsibly. She re- entered the Assembly only after becoming Chief Minister in 1991.

Similarly, MGR decided to stay away after he was subjected to a ``humiliating attack'' from the visitors' gallery on December 2, 1972. MGR then stated that the ``legislature is dead'' and walked out of the House.

Mr. Karunanidhi's boycott was entirely different. After taking the oath as a member of the House through the backdoor, he refused to function as the leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Jayalalithaa wondered why, at least for the sake of the people who elected him, Mr. Karunanidhi was not functioning as a legislator.

``As an MLA elected the most number of times, why did not Mr. Karunanidhi realise his democratic duty of expressing his views during the budget session?''. Mr. Karunanidhi, by boycotting the House, had failed to respect the feelings of the people, she said.

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