Karunanidhi will suffer rout in Tamil Nadu poll: PMK chief

Madurai, Sep 6 : Continuing his verbal assault on the DMK government, PMK founder S. Ramadoss Saturday predicted a drubbing for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi if elections were held shortly.

Speaking to reporters in this temple city, 400 km south of capital Chennai, Ramadoss said: "The crown on the chief minister's head has become thorny owing to multiple failures on the power front and repeated scams in the supply of coal to thermal power plants besides the loot of sand from river beds."

"If elections are held now, the chief minister will suffer a rout," Ramadoss added.

An erstwhile ally of the DMK, Ramadoss's party was jettisoned by the ruling Democratic Progressive Alliance in June.

Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar in a statement also launched an attack on Karunanidhi for "coming a cropper while dealing with the vital needs of the state like electricity shortfall, tackling food scarcity and allowing arrests of innocent cable operators in Madurai by the police on trumped up charges".

"The chief minister's claim that he is not touched by the stigma of nepotism is a cruel joke," Kumar added.

Cable operators have been protesting for over a fortnight citing police apathy towards charges of Karunanidhi's elder son Azhagiri forcing them to subscribe to an entertainment television software delivery system - Royal Cable Vision.