Kannan declares “moral support” to Jayalalithaa

‘Her opponents may be happy, but a strong sympathy wave prevails among the public’

P. Kanna

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member P. Kannan caused a flutter in political circles on Monday by declaring his “moral support” to the imprisoned AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalithaa.

Addressing journalists here, he said that while the conviction of Ms. Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case was considered a setback to her, it caused anguish among the people, who sympathised with her, because she had implemented several measures for the benefit of the poor and the middle-class.

“Her opponents may be happy, but a strong sympathy wave prevails among the public. The wave will change the political scenario in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Mr. Kannan said: “All who go to jail cannot be dismissed as guilty in absolute terms in the same way that not everyone not in jail can be regarded as innocents.”

He said he would go meet her wherever it was possible. The people who imagined her political life was finished would end up disappointed.

Asked whether he would switch over to the AIADMK, Mr. Kannan said: “I am not a defector. I will never be defecting.”

If the CBI and other agencies handled the 2G spectrum case in a proper way, many should have gone to prison. Several persons involved in the scam were roaming free, he said.