Why is Karuna denying Tata's letter: Jaya

AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday asked why Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was belatedly denying receiving a handwritten letter from industrialist Rata Tata.

AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday asked why Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was belatedly denying receiving a handwritten letter from industrialist Rata Tata.

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In a statement issued here, she said: "Karunanidhi’s hasty denial of the letter from Ratan Tata, reportedly hand-delivered to him by Niira Radia, raises a new set of questions. He had not issued a denial when the letter was front-paged in a leading national newspaper and reproduced by the electronic media as well.”

“Why did Karunanidhi not bother to deny the letter when it was first reported in the media? And why have Ratan Tata, the purported writer of the letter, and Niira Radia, the person who was supposed to have delivered it, not got into the denial mode? After all, it is not an e-mailed letter. It is handwritten by Ratan Tata himself on the Bombay House stationery of the Tatas,” Jayalalithaa wondered.

The letter dated Nov 13, 2007 reportedly praises former communications minister A Raja, who is now in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam.

Citing the media statement of Rajeev Narayan, vice president, TataTeleservices, confirming and justifying the letter, Jayalalithaa wondered whether Karunanidhi would publicly call Narayan a liar?

With Karunanidhi’s claims contradicting the contents of the letter and the statement of a senior Tata Group executive, it must be quite apparent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that there is more to the letter than was superficially apparent, said Jayalalithaa.