Addressing a May Day meeting organised here by DMK's Labour Progressive Front (LPF), Karunanidhi said there was nothing wrong with the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu though Jayalalitha stated otherwise. ``The law and order situation has not deteriorated at all,'' he thundered.

In a spirited attack on Jayalalitha, Karunanidhi refuted her charge that the DMK Government was anti-poor.

Elaborating on his statement, he alleged that Jayalalitha had not even bothered to call on the bereaved family members of her party functionary Vallimuthu, while she had rushed to pay homage to Andhra Pradesh-based industrialist Subburami Reddy who was gunned down by militants a couple of years ago. ``How is she pro-poor?'' he wanted to know.

Going on to talk about regional trade unions, Karunanidhi said that the Centreshould recognise through ballots all such trade unions, including the LPF.

He read out a resolution saying that state-level trade unions needed recognition in the present scenario, where single party rule was being replaced by coalition governments.

Listing the measures taken by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government to promote trade unionism, he said that his regime was the first to appoint a minister exclusively for the labour department.

His Government was also the first to declare a Government holiday for May Day and had put pressure on the Centre to declare a national holiday on May 1, he claimed.

State Ministers Arcot Veerasamy, Rehman Khan, K Ponmudi, Labour Progressive Front president C Kuppusamy and T R Balu also spoke on the occasion.