Fend for yourselves as party coffers empty: MK

CHENNAI: DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi has appealed to the lawyers in his party to do all they can to save the party from the tough times it is undergoing. Likening the AIADMK government’s crackdown on the DMK to Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, he said it was up to the lawyers to clear the party’s name in the courts.“Some weeks back I had raised doubts over whether our party’s lawyers wing was functioning. The government has now given an opportunity for them to do a lot of work. If this many of our partymen had not been thrown in jail, maybe I would have never found out how many lawyers we have in the party,” said Karunanidhi, addressing a meeting of the DMK’s lawyers wing.  Karunanidhi told the lawyers that the DMK headquarters would not bankroll the legal proceedings and that the lawyers should look for other sources of money for the purpose. “You have to remember that the DMK has lost the elections and is now a poor party,” he said.The veteran leader also asked the lawyers to use the RTI Act to ask the government questions. “The questions you ask must make them think about why you have asked them. Your questions should strike fear in the government’s heart. We can use that fear to protect ourselves,” he told the lawyers.