Union Minister for Environment and Forests T R Baalu is yet to calm down. The very thought that the police arrested him for no reason despite he being a central minister upsets him greatly. "If a central minister is arrested and harassed like this, what about the common people," he demands angrily.

After spending four days in Vellore prison, Baalu refused to leave the premises until the Tamil Nadu government had dropped all charges against him and his Cabinet colleague Murasoli Maran.

In conversation with George Iype soon after his release, Baalu lashed out at Jayalalithaa and warns of stern action against his harassment. Excerpts:

Why do you think the DMK leaders were arrested and sent to prison?

Jayalalithaa ordered the arrest of DMK president Karunanidhi just to humiliate and harass him. The case against him, the so-called flyover scam, is a fabricated one. It will not stand the scrutiny of any court in the country. The very fact that the police personnel came like robbers to arrest Karunanidhi and his son Stalin at midnight is proof enough that Jayalalithaa's motives were personal.

I was simply picked up by the police without any charges from Stalin's house. I pleaded with the police that I am a central minister. They did not care to listen. What kind of a law do we have in Tamil Nadu?

But the police claim you were arrested because you abused them and obstructed them from doing their duty?

'Just wait and see what will happen to Jayalalithaa now that she has tortured Kalaignar'

Utter nonsense! I am not only a central minister, but a DMK leader also. When our party president is arrested, don't I have the duty to ask the police for which case he is getting arrested? The police came without any FIR [First Information Report], without any arrest warrant, without any intimation. Is this the way you arrest people? The police pushed and lifted me like a vegetable. Isn't it a crime?

Were you treated well in prison?

I slept under a tamarind tree in prison. The prison authorities gave me a bedsheet. I used my arm as a pillow. The Vellore prison can hold 2,000 inmates. But it had to house more than 6,700 people with no proper sanitation. I was not given food and water in time. I was ill-treated.

I do not want to blame the prison officials. They could not help because the prison was not prepared to take the thousands of DMK workers arrested on a single night.

But the Jayalalithaa government's charge against you is that you misbehaved with the police.

I challenge Jayalalithaa to prove that I misbehaved with the police. I have been in politics for the last 44 years. So far I have committed no crime. Jayalalithaa's charges against me and Maran were politically motivated and fabricated. That is why she dropped the charges against us on a fine morning. No reason was given for our arrest. No reason was given for our release. Is there democratic rule or autocratic rule in Tamil Nadu?

Look, finally, who has lost face in the political drama here? Jayalalithaa has lost her face and political image. The continuance of Jayalalithaa as chief minister is an insult to the Constitution of India.

So you want the Centre to sack the Jayalalithaa government?

'Is this the way you arrest people? The police pushed and lifted me like a vegetable'

The DMK is against the indiscriminate use of Article 356 of the Constitution. But when the law and order in a state breaks down, when the state government, which is the protector of people, becomes their destroyer, there is no other option but to invoke the article. Tamil Nadu is a fit case for the imposition of President's rule.

But now that the Centre has decided to issue just a stern warning to the Jayalalithaa government, are you happy?

The stern warning is just the beginning. If Jayalalithaa does not obey and take action as per the Centre's stern warning, more is in store for her.

Why do you think Jayalalithaa climbed down and agreed to drop the charges against you?

Because she is frightened of her own survival. Just wait and see what will happen to Jayalalithaa now that she has tortured 'Kalaignar' [Karunanidhi]. I predict Jayalalithaa will not be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu after four months.

Personally, what action are you going to take against the Jayalalithaa government on your arrest?

I will submit a detailed complaint to the Lok Sabha speaker. I will also put up the case before the National Human Rights Commission. I am consulting my lawyers. We are not going to keep quiet and leave the state of Tamil Nadu to Jayalalithaa's antics.

Karunanidhi's arrest: The Complete Coverage