Apparently irritated by a remark made by C Gnanasekaran (tMC), who said his party was prepared to make proper lighting arrangements for a statue of late Kamaraj, if the government failed to do the needful, Karunanidhi said his government had provided employment to the personal assistant, V Vairavan, when there was nobody to take care of him.

"When we respect even the personal assistant to the late leader, do you think we will not do even this to a great leader of all India fame," Karunanidhi shot back.

He said he would not have raised the subject at all if only Gnanasekaran had refrained from saying that the TMC was prepared to arrange for proper lighting to the statue.

Karunanidhi said the DMK never failed to respectlate Kamaraj. In fact, Chennai Corporation under the DMK control, had installed a statue for the late leader even when he was alive and invited the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to unveil it.

Not to be deterred by the reaction from the chief minister, Gnanasekaran later used an occasion of tabling a call attention notice to return the compliment. In an obivious reference to the incidents in the city after the DMK men took control of the Simpson Companies Union in 1972, he said the people had not forgotten the murder of a worker, Pratab Chandar. Pratab Chander was said to be an AIADMK volunteer.

Only yesterday Karunanidhi criticised TMC leader, S Balakrishnan, for alleging that the ruling DMK was in `a state of panic' over the dismissal threat to its regime.

On Thursday, in response to AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha's charge that the TMC continued to be a puppet of the ruling DMK, Balakrishnan maintained that the TMC has been functioning as a constructive and responsible Opposition in thestate. In a strongly worded statement, Balakrishnan said as the Union Finance Ministry is controlled by the BJP-led Government in which the AIADMK is participating as an ally, allegations pertaining to the Indian Bank can be inquired to probe the true state of affairs.

Jayalalitha, who keeps threatening the BJP-led Government on issues that help her survive in politics, could have persuaded the Finance Ministry to find out whether TMC president G K Moopanar is in any way involved in the Indian Bank issue. If it is proved that TMC leaders are in no way linked to the Indian Bank cases, will Jayalalitha quit politics, Balakrishnan asked.Outlining in detail how the TMC has been discharging its duty as a party in the Opposition, Balakrishnan said it was the TMC which in a loud and unambiguous voice opposed power cut in the state, agitated against milk price hike, and highlighted the plight of weavers, handloom and textile sectors. It was the TMC which firmly fought against the move to withdraw free supply ofpower for agricultural operations, and intervened on behalf of the Delta farmers in the dispute of Cauvery river water sharing between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

TN enacts tender transparency Bill

The Tamil Nadu assembly today passed a pioneering legislation laying down rigorous transparency norms in the processing of tenders by government departments and state entities. The Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders bill was the first of its kind in the country, and aimed at promoting fairness and public confidence in the processing of tenders, state public works minister Durai Murugan said, in the house.

Explaining the law's objects, he said during the previous AIADMK regime, rampant corruption and irregularities marked the tender process, and the vigilance department was probing illegalities involving crores of rupees. He was confident that the enactment would help eliminate irregularities and corruption in government procurement. Durai Murugan accepted some members' suggestion and moved an amendmentby which the period given to appeal against rejected offers was reduced from 30 to 10 days.