Vaiko after his arrest. (PTI)

New Delhi, Oct. 23: MDMK chief Vaiko was arrested in Chennai today for making “highly inflammatory speeches supporting the LTTE”, Tamil Nadu police said.

The move is believed to be chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s riposte to Vaiko’s new ally Jayalalithaa, who had yesterday dared him to catch LTTE backers if he had the spunk.

Political observers in Chennai felt that Karunanidhi wanted to send a “more substantive” signal to the Centre that he would not tolerate any secessionist activity on Tamil Nadu soil.

In the competitive politics being played out in Tamil Nadu over the plight of Tamils in Lanka, Vaiko, who unflinchingly backed the Tamil Tigers even after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, tried to steal the thunder from the others on Tuesday. At a public meeting in Chennai, he claimed a Tamil Eezham (separate country) would come into being under the leadership of LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran.

This is the second time Vaiko is in handcuffs since he floated the MDMK in 1993. On July 10, 2002, he was arrested under the now defunct Prevention of Terrorism Act for taking up cudgels for the Tigers.

It was Jayalalithaa, the then chief minister, who had sent Vaiko to jail for 19 months. DMK sources said Karunanidhi wanted to underline this irony.

“Karunanidhi obliged Jayalalithaa,” CPM MP T.K. Rangarajan said.

Vaiko had struck back at Jayalalithaa in the 2004 elections by aligning with the DMK and the Congress. Months later, Vaiko had walked out of the UPA and cosied up to Jayalalithaa.

Political observers, however, believe the Jayalalithaa-Vaiko honeymoon will not last long.

Vaiko has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.