Chennai, Sep 3 (IANS): AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa Friday accused the union government of taking actions against her during 1991-1996 for standing firm on the state's rights.

"I stressed on the rights of Tamil Nadu in respect of Katchatheevu and the Cauvery river water issue while I was the chief minister and the central government took actions against me," she said.

Responding to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's poser about her attempts to get back the Katchatheevu -- an island India ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974 -- Jayalalithaa said: "It is for the central government to take action on the issue as the state has no power."

She said the issue was raised with several prime ministers, including P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, through letters and during personal meetings.

Stating that Katchatheevu was handed over to Sri Lanka on June 26, 1974, she said the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution protesting the transfer two months later, on Aug 21, 1974.

Jayalalithaa said she had filed a case at the Supreme Court to declare the transfer of island to Sri Lanka as against the Constitution.

Referring to Karunanidhi's statement that the DMK was able to get flood relief funds of Rs.1,000 crore from the union government in 2005, Jayalalithaa said: "The state government had asked the central government for financial assistance of Rs.13,685 crore towards flood relief, a special allocation of 258,000 tonnes of rice and 43,200 kilo-litres of kerosene. The central government had sanctioned only Rs.500 crore."

Later, the central government released Rs.500 crore and 10,000 kilo-litres of kerosene to the state after she met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Dec 16, 2005, Jayalalitha said.