| Published on 18-06-2007 In National | | Viewed 2469 times | | Written by
Cho Ramaswamy | 
KR Sarangapani, Coimbatore 42
Question: Is there any constitutional compulsion that prevents any President having a second term in our country?
Answer: Statute doesn't prevent this at all. However, but for the first occupant of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan – Rajendra Prasad who had two terms, no other President was accorded the same honour again. On that count, there are many who argue that on the basis of established precedence, it is but natural that APJ Abdul Kalam is being denied an extension.
But the truth is something different. The prevailing difference of opinions within the ruling party at the centre, those who prop it up and the entire opposition on the choice of a consensus candidate has resulted in Kalam's not being accorded another term.
Therefore, it is neither statute nor tradition. It is merely a political compulsion.
K Balaraman, Coimbatore 38
Question: How many marks will you allot for the completion of one year by the DMK regime?
Answer: In my opinion, Kalaignar has managed to usurp all our rights to accord him marks in his annual progress report by granting himself a centum. Therefore, possessed with no alternative, I can only award him a zero.
Nellai Thirumalairajan Chennai 73
Question: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has burst out in anger against a journalist when he questioned him about the Dinakaran incidents in New Delhi. Comment.
Answer: It is rather unfortunate that a senior politician like him has behaved in such a reprehensible manner for the third time during this reign. Kalaignar ought to apologise to the concerned reporter.
SS Mani, Thiruvananthapuram 36
Question: Doesn't close scrutiny betray the fact that the DMK has become a family's private limited company?
Answer: There seems to be a flaw in your eyesight since the matter is plain as pikestaff, openly, clearly and gigantically. It ought not to require close require close scrutiny.
LN Shiva Kumar, Chennai 33
Question: What is your take on Kerala Chief Minister Atchudanandan's comparison of his removal from the Polit Bureau [of the CPM] to the minor punishment to an errant child?
Answer: No other party would have dared to discipline a Chief Minister in this fashion. Upon being removed from a plum post, normal political leaders in such a position would start another party or join other outfits. No leader would have taken the matter in such a right spirit and accepted it gracefully. The CPM is indeed a party with a difference.
Lakshmi Sengoottuvan, Vellore (Namakkal)
Question: What does the Maran brothers being ranked 349th on a global scale and the 20th nationally amongst the richest people go to show?
Answer: They may be powerful men, but have a lot to lose if they [continue to] antagonise those in power in the state. Therefore, they will have to wait till a proper opportunity presents itself to make their next move.
K Vanapriyan, Valliyoor
Question: Is my assumption that you are a secret admirer of Kalaignar correct?
Answer: I don't do anything secretly. Whenever I need to appreciate or criticise somebody, I do so openly. If the instances for doing the latter [are more in the case of Karunanidhi] are more, I am not the one to blame.
MP Ansari, Chennai 4
Question: Have you noticed that power cuts are regular in Chennai?
Answer: Chennai residents are experiencing unannounced load shedding under this regime. And this is a feature of [only] this government.
H Tamilarasan, Mumbai 17
Question: What is your take on Local Administration Minister MK Stalin's praise of the TN CM Karunanidhi by saying he has achieved in a year's span what couldn't have been done in two decades?
Answer: Stalin has made fun of the CM because more than two decades were needed to make him a minister, but elevating, sacking his grand nephew [to and from the post of a union minister] and the promotion of Kanimozhi as a Rajya Sabha MP were achieved in short spans of time. It is a rather sarcastic comment.
K Banu, Chennai 68
Question: "What earthly purpose would be served by speaking on the floors of the TN Assembly?" asks Vijayakanth.
Comment.
Answer: In my opinion it is a justifiable comment. I don't think that his comments alter the course of events inside the Assembly.
S Chokkalinga Adityan, Rosmiyapuram
Question: Is Karunanidhi's decision to induct his daughter Kanimozhi into politics right or wrong?
Answer: Anybody can enter politics and any politician in power indeed has the right to induct his offspring into it. But when such an induction is done by offering an MP's post on a platter, it is an abuse of power. That, in short, is what has happened now.
K Kalaivani, Tharani Square
Question: Karunanidhi's life is a good example for all MLAs in the nation, says Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Comment.
Answer: When Karunanidhi realised that he couldn't have his way in the Assembly, he didn't stage a protest or indulge in slogan shouting. He adopted the method of signing the roster for 5 years and staying away from the house. It is obvious that Chatterjee thinks that other politicians should follow this peaceful method. Poor man! Probably the noisy demonstrations in Parliament have affected the Speaker too much.
K Kalaivani, Tharani Square
Question: "Soon there will be a foundation stone laying ceremony to build a new Assembly to mark my golden jubilee as a legislator which will be completed within the period of this reign," Karunanidhi has been quoted as saying. Comment.
Answer: I remember Karunanidhi saying in the past that Jayalalithaa's attempts to do the same thing were an attempt to belittle the august tradition of the house.
G Balasubramanian, Sethu Narayanapuram
Question: [What would happen] if Dayanidhi Maran meets Jayalalithaa? (This is not based on my imagination alone.)
Answer: It may not happen in the near future. But I do not rule out such a possibility permanently.
D Murugesan, Tiruvarur
Question: What do you read into UP Chief Minister Mayawati's agreeing to support the presidential nominee of the Congress [Pratibha Patil]?
Answer: Well, the Taj Corridor case is still hanging fire. For the sake of argument, permission could have been accorded to Mayawati's prosecution, if she hadn't agreed because the UP Governor is a Congress appointee.
Kuvalai Ezhil, Chennai 92
Question: The depiction of BJP leaders Vajpayee, Advani and Rajnath Singh as three top Gods of the Hindu pantheon has angered Mrs. Jaswant Singh. Can the BJP not avoid such controversies?
Answer: When Jayalalithaa was featured as a Goddess in the past, various Hindu organisations had opposed it. But the same outfits are silent on the recent development. Both are wrong and condemnable because they show Hindu deities in a bad light.
Umari P Ganeshan, Mumbai 37
Question: What does the fact that despite the LTTE kidnapping and killing Indian fishermen has not been condemned even by a few politicians go to show?
Answer: The fact is that no politician has condemned the incidents. Tamil Nadu leaders launched a tirade against the Sri Lankan Navy on the assumption that it was the outfit that killed Indian fishermen. But when it dawned that the kidnapping was done by the Tigers, everyone fell silent and did not even register a token of protest.
Due to the turn of events, everybody deduced that the murders too were committed by the Tigers. Therefore a deafening silence followed. This only goes to show that the Tamil fishermen's lives are valuable only when taken by the Lankan Navy and worth nothing if the Tigers do the same thing. For propounding such a policy, the politicians of Tamil Nadu are [a] dishonest and [b] cowards.
R Mohan, Theni
Question: Attempting to polish pebbles without inherent shine is a waste of time and effort, and therefore, they should be consigned to the waste bin, Karunanidhi has said in a poem. Comment.
Answer: There is a caveat to this. If Kalaignar says that a particular pebble has an inherent glow, the masses ought to hail it as a precious stone and follow his lead when he says that the attempt did not bear fruit as it turned out to be a mere pebble and consigned it to the bin. The people's role in the whole bargain is pitiable.
(Translated from Thuglak by TSV Hari)
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