Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday refuted Congress leader S M Krishna’s charges that he had used “harsh language” on the contentious Hogenakkal issue and said the state was fighting for a “just cause” within the constitutional framework.

Upset over the former Karnataka Chief Minister’s charges, the DMK supremo dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, saying he had not used any harsh language either publicly or in the resolution passed unanimously in the state Assembly on April 1 on the Hogenakkal issue.

“As a person who has understood me fully well, I am quite sure, you will not believe or even imagine that such provocative words would have been uttered by me,” he said. A copy of the letter was made available to the media here. This is the second letter by Karunanidhi to the PM in recent days on the river project on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border.

“You will agree with me that no one can misinterpret my words if one goes through my speech carefully,” said Karunanidhi. A copy of the letter was also sent to Krishna. Krishna welcomed Karunanidhi’s remarks suggesting he had not used any harsh language. “If he has said that he had not used any harsh language I welcome it,” he said. Krishna had said in Delhi on Wednesday that “the harsh language used by Karunanidhi, whom he considers an elder statesman, has provoked reactions in Karnataka leading to unhealthy development”.

In his letter, Karunanidhi said: A Chief Minister cannot keep quiet when in the neighbouring state buses from his state are being burnt, Tamil cinema houses are ransacked, Tamil Sangam office at Bangalore is attacked and Tamils in that state are kept in constant fear.

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