Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has explained why she ordered the release of DMK cadre who courted arrest, protesting what they called the "AIADMK's repressive regime and vendetta politics".
Ms Jayalalithaa said that the "DMK's jail bharo was an attempt to divert attention of the angry public". She added that "though land grab complaints were given even during the earlier DMK regime, no action was taken then and it was only after my government took over quick action was taken, as I had promised during election campaign".
Explaining what led to the release of the DMK members, Ms Jayalalithaa said: "Jailing DMK workers would be a useless exercise for the government and the police". Interestingly, while the DMK put the number of people who participated in the jail bharo at over a lakh , Ms Jaylalithaa's statement is silent about it.
However the DMK is quite upbeat about the response for the protest. DMK MP Kanimozhi told NDTV: "It is an overwhelming response from the party against the vindictive politics of the ruling AIADMK. This has shown them I hope, what the DMK can do and how we can come together. At least from today I hope they would understand that they cannot continue with this".