Das Munshi

New Delhi, Oct. 1: Mahatma Gandhi on lips, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi today took upon himself the task of defending chief minister M. Karunanidhi and making up for the Congress’s silence.

He equated the Tamil Nadu shutdown on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti with the satyagraha movement.

Sonia Gandhi away in the US, the Congress was muted with spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also a lawyer, sticking to the legal points.

But Das Munshi, the information and broadcasting minister and the cabinet spokesperson, told The Telegraph: “The court was bringing a stay on Gandhiji and I have to protect the Father of the Nation.

“We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of satyagraha and non-violent forms of protest. The chief minister, an aged man, was protesting in the most Gandhian way. What signal would it have sent if we had kept quiet because the court had made certain observations?”

He also made it clear that the Centre would not “hurt” the DMK-led government. “We will not disturb the state government remotely, directly or explicitly,” Das Munshi told PTI.

A source close to him said he had not “consulted” the Prime Minister or Sonia but used his “own political wisdom” when he spoke out. “The DMK is one of the UPA’s most valuable allies. If we sound defensive about Karunanidhi, we will be playing into the hands of the BJP and Jayalalithaa,” the source said.

Das Munshi said law-makers were not “fools” and knew they had to “respect the law and the Constitution”, adding that the governor alone had the power to decide whether the constitutional machinery had broken down.

“The judiciary cannot dictate to Parliament and neither can Parliament dictate to the judiciary. But can the court allow itself to be dictated by N. Jothi (the ADMK leader who filed the petition in the court), who is always disrupting Parliament and jumping into the well of the House, and not by the governor?”

A number of Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu congratulated the minister after his statement. Das Munshi was also the first Congress leader to defend actor Sanjay Dutt when he was convicted.

Congress spokesperson Singhvi, on the other hand, said: “The Congress has decided that it is incorrect to react to observations which are not given in writing.”

BJP backs court

The BJP, already cut up with Karunanidhi for his remarks on Ram, supported the court and said its demand for dismissing the state government stood vindicated.