Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday expressed 'surprise' that Election Commission was not preventing the Tamil Nadu government from going ahead with its welfare programmes.

Karunanidhi said he was 'totally surprised' to see an announcement that EC had not prevented the state government from implementing the ongoing schemes.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon, Karunanidhi recalled that he had informed the EC sometime back 'that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government was issuing a number of government orders after the Model Code of Conduct came into effect."

Karunanidhi said he had quoted specific instances in his letter. "I am sorry to point out that no effective action has been taken on my letter," he said, cautioning the EC that its announcement on implementing ongoing welfare schemes, should not be 'misinterpreted and misused' by the AIADMK government.

"The AIADMK government has been frantically relying on the doles which they have proposed to distribute to the people. Now your announcement would come to them handy and it would be interpreted as a green signal to implement all the government orders issued before March 1, 2006," he said.