Chennai: DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) president M Karunanidhi today (Dec 8, 2004) charged that the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Sangh Parivar outfits were using the arrest of Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi for inciting communal clashes.

In a statement made in Chennai, he said that former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharthi had alleged 'conspiracy' behind the silence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the arrest, without making any allegations against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, whose Government had effected the arrest.

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself has written to Jayalalithaa to treat the Seer with dignity. "What else does Uma Bharthi wants from Sonia Gandhi," he asked.

Karunanidhi said that he always had a 'soft corner' for Uma Bharthi. Hailing from a backward class, she had reached the 'dizzying heights' in BJP, in which only those from forward community could reach. "That is why I had not reacted to many of her blabbers. But her statement at Vellore yesterday (Dec 7, 2004) aimed at inciting communal clashes."