Madras, March 11: The Chief Minister, Mr. Karunanidhi, said today that he would have to give up parliamentary methods to achieve the objective of State autonomy if the Centre did not change its posture towards the State Government. Making a spirited case for autonomy in the Legislative Council while replying to the budget discussion, Mr. Karunanidhi said the Centre was heaping insults on the State Government. It had not sanctioned several pending projects including power generation schemes in the State. He complained of unfair treatment in respect of the annual Plan allocation and pointed out that the per capita allocation to the State was lower than to other States. The Chief Minister said that even to trim the lawn at the Fort St. George, the Centre’s permission had to be obtained. While the Union government had not given its consent for the installation of a statue of Raja Raja Cholan in the Brahadeeswarar temple at Thanjavur on the ground that it would spoil the antiquity and archaeological value, it had put up a Varahi temple inside. It was not a repair work as there was no Varahi temple there before. While the great Chola King who built the temple had no place there, he asked whether a temple should have been raised for a broken pig-faced idol. The Centre did not think it proper to allow the State to maintain monuments at Mahabalipuram, Gangaikondan Cholapuram and other historic places. These issues involved the “self-respect” of Tamils and insults could not be taken lightly. The Chief Minister declared: “We approach the question of State autonomy through parliamentary methods. But if the Centre pushes us to a situation when this weapon is of no avail, we have to think of other ways like installing the Raja Raja Chola statue in the temple, asking the Central Archaeological department officials to hand over the monuments to the State and taking charge of the monuments at Gangaikondan Cholapuram.”
Published – March 12, 2025 02:30 am IST