Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko has alleged that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi was attempting to disrupt peace and social harmony by fomenting enmity between the Dalits and the dominant Thevar community during the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Describing the DMK leader's reported remark "when Panthers are roaming free why not Lions" as words dipped in poison, he said it was intended to create dissent among the communities.
Addressing an election meeting of the AIADMK-led DPF, comprising the MDMK and the Dalit Panthers of India of Thol Thirumavalavan, in Madurai Sunday night, he expressed hope that the people would not fall prey to the designs of the DMK.
Lion is the symbol of the Forward Bloc, having considerable support among the Thevars in certain pockets of the southern districts and the party is contesting the elections on its own after unsuccessfully attempting to be a part of the AIADMK-led alliance.
He said Karunanidhi had reportedly made the remark while charging the ruling AIADMK with intimidating the candidates of the FB to withdraw from the fray.
According to the MDMK leader, the intention of Karunanidhi was to fan casteist violence.
During the tenure of the previous DMK government headed by Karunanidhi, the state had witnessed caste clashes on a largescale, he alleged.
Despite such manouevres, the DPF would secure more than 200 seats in the elections, he asserted, predicting a repeat of the 1980 results, when the AIADMK won the mandate, defeating the DMK-Congress combine, basking in the glory of a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha poll held only eight months earlier.
Accusing Karunanidhi of failing to perform his democratic duty by abstaining from the Assembly sessions in the last five years, he said the DMK chief's 'lame excuse' that neither late M G Ramachandran nor Jayalalithaa attended the House, would not hold water since they were ill-treated on the floor of the House.
Vaiko said the DMK has lost the moral ground to talk about state autonomy.
Terming as false promises the DMK's assurance to provide subsidised rice and free colour TV sets, the MDMK expressed confidence that the people would not fall prey to them and appealed to the electorate to vote for the AIADMK-led Democratic People's Alliance.
More from rediff