Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa-Karunanidhi spat of 1989 returns in EPS-Stalin fight

A day after he was accused of engineering violence in Tamil Nadu Assembly during the vote of confidence, DMK working president MK Stalin was today booked for protesting against the E Palaniswami government on Marina beach in Chennai.

Stalin alleged, in turn, that he was manhandled inside the Assembly and also sat on dharna. Stalin has announce that he will sit on hunger strike on February 22.

The ugly spat between the ruling AIADMK and opposition DMK in the ongoing political slugfest in Tamil Nadu is a grim reminder of what happened in 1989 between the then Opposition leader Jayalalithaa and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

READ| What happened in Tamil Nadu Assembly was a disgrace to democracy, says Venkaiah Naidu

THAT DAY IN 1989

It was March 25. The Tamil Nadu Assembly was in session. The Budget was to be presented by Karunanidhi, who also held the finance portfolio. As he stood up to present the Budget, Jayalalithaa objected to it.

The heated exchange followed between Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu Assembly. Versions differ as to who said what.Jayalalithaa is said to have shouted at Karunanidhi saying, "Stop reading Budget. You are a criminal (Kuttreya was the word used)."

Jayalalithaa was particularly angry over an FIR registered in a cheating case against her aide Natarajan (present AIADMK chief Sasikala's husband), whose house had been raided just ahead of the Assembly session.

Inside Assembly, Karunanidhi responded with unsavoury and personal remarks on Jayalalithaa, who got incensed.

ALSO WATCH|

VIOLENCE IN ASSEMBLY

The hell broke out in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. It was free for all. Budget documents, slippers, sandals and almost everything started raining in the House.

Jayalalithaa's deputy in the Assembly KKSSR Ramachandran and Congress legislator GK Moopnar formed a human shield to protect Jayalalithaa escorting her out of the Assembly hall.

As she was getting out of the Assembly building, the then DMK Minister Durai Murugan tried to get hold of her. Murugan caught Jayalalithaa's saree.

READ| Why DMK created mayhem in Tamil Nadu Assembly

THEN SAREE, NOW SHIRT

Later, Jayalalithaa said, "My saree was pulled and torn" and accused Murugan of indulging in "shameful act" in the Assembly premises.

Durai Murugan denied the accusations, but the bitter fight had set in.

If Jayalalithaa's saree was "torn" in 1989, Stalin and his MLAs are accused of tearing off Speaker Dhanapala's shirt now. However, Stalin showed his shirt in a way to suggest that he was also assaulted.

Violence happened during Budget presentation in 1989, it was repeated on Saturday during the trust vote for Palaniswami in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Jayalalithaa vowed not to return to the Assembly till safety of women was not assured. She launched a campaign against Karunanidhi government and narrated the "shameful" incident in her public speeches repeatedly.

ALSO WATCH|

AND, LEGACY CONTINUES

In 1991, Jayalalithaa had a landslide victory securing 224 of 235 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Jayalalithaa was aggressive thereafter in pursuing her political opponents. Karunindhi and later MK Stalin when he became the mayor of Chennai were her prime targets. The fight culminated in the arrest of Karunanidhi from his residence in June, 2001.

Karunanidhi was picked up at midnight by Tamil Nadu police. He was dragged out of his bed to police van. The visuals of the old man being dragged splashed all over TV channels and washed away all the sympathies that Tamil people had for Jayalalithaa.

While the two warring leaders are no longer in fight as Jayalalithaa passed away in December last year and Karunanidhi is too old to move freely.

But, the claimants of Jayalalithaa's legacy in AIADMK and Stalin, the heir apparent in the DMK seem to be happy to repeat history almost in the same fashion.