M Gunasekaran, 13 February 2010, 04:47am
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CHENNAI: In a rare political gesture, Tamil Nadu
deputy chief minister MK Stalin has invited his political rival,
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa,for the launch of the DMK government’s ambitious
Kalaignar Housing Scheme to construct 21 lakh concrete
houses for the poor.
“It’s not an unusual thing. We always adhere to democratic
principles and don’t ignore the Opposition parties.
Since she holds the post of the Leader of the Opposition,
I have written to her inviting her for the inauguration of
the Kalaignar Housing Scheme, which is one of the major schemes
implemented by our government,” Stalin told The Times of India.
In a state where rival leaders seldom even greet each other,
such gestures are rare. But in the past, Stalin is known to have
extended similar courtesy. In 2001, he, along with DMK general
secretary K Anbazhagan, attended the swearing-in ceremony of
Jayalalithaa when her party returned to power. When the tsunami
struck the state in 2004, Stalin, who was an opposition MLA,
met Jayalalithaa, who was then chief minister,
at Fort St George to hand over a cheque on his party’s
behalf for the relief fund.
Stalin, who holds the rural development portfolio and
is entrusted with the job of executing the mega project,
has written letters to all parties represented in the Assembly.
“From Jayalalithaa to Jagan Moorthy (Arakkonam MLA, heading a
fringe dalit outfit), I have written letters to all of them
inviting them for the function,” he said, recalling his earlier
invitation to them for the launch of the Anaithu Grama
Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (Anna infrastructure scheme for all villages).
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