Even as the DMK official machinery maintained a studied silence despite the surprise raids that stung the household of party president and chief minister M Karunanidhi, his third wife Rajathiammal and her daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi came out with public statements on Thursday, seeking to clear the murky air that now surrounds their family.
Father Jegath Gasper Raj of the NGO Tamil Maiyam, the office of which was raided on Wednesday by the CBI, too met the media claiming that he and his organisation were being ?unfairly targeted?. Kanimozhi is on the board of his NGO.
What was striking about Thursday?s development was that this is the first ever time Rajathiammal, the patriarch?s third wife who keeps a low profile, issued a public statement. In a press release faxed to media houses on Thursday, Rajathiammal denied the charges that a prime land on the arterial Anna Salai belonged to her through benami ownership.
The statement was in a question and answer format, like the periodical Q&A releases that Karunanidhi is known to issue on matters of public interest. The land in question, an over 50,000 sq-ft plot in the possession of Voltas since 1975, was alleged to be bought by a person close to the ?second camp? in the DMK family represented by Rajathiammal and Kanimozhi after paying a pittance compared to the market value.
Rajathiammal said a former staff of her company Royal Enterprises, one S Saravanan, whom she insisted was no longer working for her, acted as a middleman to sell the land to a Malaysia-based businessman named Dr Shanmuganathan. The deal was between the seller and buyer and she had no role to play in this, she added.
?There are no links between Royal Enterprises and this doctor. However, a section of the media is spreading malicious rumours that I had bought the land. If this continues, I will consider legal recourse against them,? she said.
As Rajathiammal?s statement came as a surprise, what added to it is the continuing silence from anyone in the party regarding the turn of events in the last few days.
Kanimozhi, too, echoed her mother?s words. After scrutinising the documents, she said, it was found that this was not a Tata-owned land as alleged, but a private property which they had taken on lease.
She added that the raids against those close to her will not affect the relationship between her party and the Congress. ?Why should it (affect the ties)? I am sure together we will prove that there is nothing wrong,? she said, maintaining that the searches were not a targeted effort as is alleged. ?The law is taking its due process… This is a process to show we are clean. I am very open to it, and the DMK too is open to it.?