‘Vindictive’ arrest by TVK government was meant to conceal administrative failure, says NTK functionary Karthika

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Minutes after release on bail from the Coimbatore Central Prison, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) functionary and Dharapuram byelection candidate Karthika on Friday charged the TVK government with ‘vindictive’ action with the intent to conceal failure in securing the Cauvery water from Karnataka, in containing inflation and soaring costs of essential commodities, and addressing rising unemployment.

Ms. Karthika who, was granted bail on Thursday night by the Judicial Magistrate Court in Dharapuram, and released on Friday morning along with eight other party members including her husband Muruga Chandrakumar, was accorded a rousing welcome by NTK party cadre.

Inflation and soaring costs of essential commodities was pushing many into poverty. Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has failed to secure the Cauvery water from Karnataka and Palar water from Andhra Pradesh. Unemployment rate was the highest in Tamil Nadu, Ms. Karthika claimed, demanding resignation of the TVK government.

The police department, she sought to explain, had acted in an ‘undemocratic’ way by blocking her from electioneering on the final day of campaign on October 4 in Dharapuram, questioning the purported justification behind obstructing all other candidates from seeking votes, in view of the Chief Minister’s roadshow. “The obstruction was unwarranted. We would have completed our campaign at the particular spot within two minutes, and cleared the way,” she pointed out.

“I thank the Chief Minister for jailing me for fighting for people’s cause. I am not corrupt. Nor am I involved in trafficking of meth,” she said.