Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Thursday said the DMK pulled out of the NDA only after the BJP refused to heed to DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s ‘‘self-centred demands’’.Addressing a well-attended public meeting here in support of R. Amirthaganesan, her party candidate for Tirunelveli constituency, Jayalalithaa continued her tirade against leaders of various constituents of the DPA.Stating that it was neither the Ayodhya issue nor the BJP’s communalism, as claimed by Karunanidhi, that prompted the DMK to quit the NDA, she said that Karunanidhi had demanded the BJP-led government at the Centre to oust the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu. He had also demanded a ministerial berth for his kin (read grandnephew Dayanidhi Maran).Ridiculing the DMK leader’s reasons for quitting NDA, she said: ‘‘Only after enjoying power and all privileges of being in the ruling coalition, did Karunanidhi find Ayodhya issue rearing its head. Who will believe him?. All his wily tricks are now outdated’’.Later, Jayalalithaa addressed wayside gatherings in Palayamkottai and Ponnakudi and campaigned in favour of T. Damodaran, AIADMK’s Tiruchendur candidate,at Mundradaippu, Nanguneri and Vallioor before leaving for Kanyakumari.
