Cold War between Swamy & Baalu in Tamil Nadu

(December, 12, Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka Guardian) Well known political party in Tamil Nadu, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said that he was ready to face the defamation case that Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu was allegedly planning to file one against him on the Sethusamudram project

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, he said. ‘a section of the media reported that Baalu had send legal notice through the DMK lawyer R S Bharathi to me for the charges raised by me on the project.’

However, he said, it is only a letter, not a legal notice. In reply to the letter, Swamy said, ‘I had asked the lawyer to clarify on what basis the case would be filed against me and what is wrong in my charges.’

According to law, Swamy said, if a defamation case is initiated on a person in public life, he orshe should come clean on it. Similarly in the case of a private person, the person who levelled charges has the onus to prove it.

The Janata Party leader said, ‘I asked Baalu to prove his innocence. If still they went ahead and filed the case, I am ready to face it in the court with evidences substantiate my charges.’

He urged the government to scrap the Sethusamudaram project as the experts and shipping companies themselves had declared it as an uneconomical project. ‘Instead, the government could develop the infrastructure of Southern Districts to improve transportation and fishing.’
Welcoming the BJP’s move in announcing LK Advani as its Prime Ministerial candidate, Swamy said Advani was the right person for the job as he had the experience of being Deputy Prime Minister. He expressed hope that Narendra Modi would win the Gujarat Assembly election to become its Chief Minister again.

On the UPA government, he said that the Left parties would certainly withdraw its support to the government by the middle of 2008.