"I am against hate politics, we can’t be anti-something"

Even at that time, Mr Gujral in his letter to Mr Kesri was very clear. He made an appeal to him to wait for the final report. I am sorry, Mr Kesri and others did not give a thought to it at that point of time. As a result, they have handed over the government on a silver platter to the BJP.

Victory, you know can be deceptive. People did not approve of corruption or bribery. In that case, this holy land of Tamil Nadu and India would have been sold out to others as real estate. The verdict was perhaps for a stable government. And from our side, we made some mistakes. We took too much time to form our alliance. It does not mean that people of Tamil Nadu have given licence for Jayalalitha and co. to continue the looting.

No, you see… People are very well aware why they are voting for and what they are voting for. This was not an election for the Assembly. In the two by-elections which were held simultaneously, they have voted for the DMK in a very big way and emphasised their preference to the DMK Government and its performance.

The series of bomb blasts were one of the principal reasons for our setback because it happened on the eve of the elections and we didn’t have enough time to go to the people and convince them. And I think the bomb blasts not only affected our prospects in Tamil Nadu, but also, according to me,

increased the prospects of the BJP and its alliance all over India. The BJP capitalised on this and they did so rightly, very efficiently. I can attribute roughly about 15 seats of the BJP alliance (in TN) to the Coimbatoreblasts.

No, now they (AIADMK) are in the alliance (with BJP). Where is the question of the DMK coming in? We are in the UF, they are in the alliance.

The future, nobody can say. We are in the UF.

Their manifesto is different from the so-called national agenda. Certain contentious issue have been put on the backburner. People are waiting and watching whether those things have been abandoned for ever or those things are reserved for Sangh Parivar to be taken up. Supposing if they abandon those contentious issue for ever, then Indian politics will be totally different. The BJP becomes another political party. Like X, Y, Z, like other political parties… without the so-called stigma.

No, these are all hypothetical questions. You have to ask them. How can I answer anything hypothetical? It may happen, it may not happen. When we cross the bridge, we will come to it. (Laughs…)

It all depends upon the situation. Now we are in alliance with the Leftists and are in the United Front.

Our friendship continues. Even almost all the leaders of the BJP are friends of the DMK. We fought the Emergency together, we were jailed together. Friendship is different from political alignments.

Karunanidhi has himself replied to it. DMK is not a mutt. It is a democratic party. That is the reply given by Mr Karunanidhi to your question.

There is no doubt about the ability of Mr Vajpayee. During the 1996 confidence motion, I had said here is a right man, but in the wrong party. He himself has described the United Front as kitchdi government. His position is unenviable too much pressure and pulls from all sides. Of course, it happens naturally in all coalitions. And coalition politics is new to India.

It is a numbers game. (Laughs)…. After all, we are only six in the Lok Sabha. Why should they want our support?

No, it all depends up on the situation. If the issues are good, naturally we will support. We are part and parcel of the UF and we will take decisions united. Generally, personally speaking, I am against this hate politics. We can’t be anti-something. We have to be pro-something also. Anti-Congressism landed us in the BJP. Anti-BJPism will again land us in the Congress.