New era dawns on Tamil Nadu-Centre relations? Jayalalithaa keeps issue hanging

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa kept alive the suspense Tuesday on whether her party would bail out the Narendra Modi Government in Rajya Sabha where it does not have a majority, saying “will see when the situation arises”.

In a brief interaction with reporters after meeting Prime Minister Modi, she said there was neither a proposal nor talk of supporting the BJP government as it has an independent majority. “There is no such talk. NDA has an independent majority and for that matter the BJP itself has an independent majority. They don’t need (any other) support,” she said.

This put an end to speculation in a section of the media that Ms Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK would be part of the “grand NDA” and provide outside support to the Modi government. Asked whether her party with 10 MPs in Rajya Sabha would support the BJP, she merely said, “Will see when the situation arises.” Her comment seemed to indicate she could be open to supporting the BJP in the House of Elders.

Though she had skipped Mr Modi’s swearing-in on May 26 in protest against the presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Tuesday trip had all the trappings of warm friendship on both sides. That the Prime Minister chose to send his law minister Ravishankar Prasad and the ministers of state Nirmala Seetharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan, separately, to Tamil Nadu House to meet his good friend in the CM, showed that he attached great importance to the AIADMK supremo.