Chennai Express unveiled: Jaya pitches for PM
India Today Online Chennai, December 19, 2013 | UPDATED 20:26 IST
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa
At a general meeting of the party in Chennai, it was resolved that there have been PMs from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, etc, and this is the time when somebody from Tamil Nadu must lead the country.
Highlighting her party's victorious march to power in the state on many occasions, Jayalalithaa said, "Our party was converted into the St George's Express and has reached St. George Fort (Tamil Nadu secretariat) six times. We had successful journey. Three times under MGR's leadership and thrice under mine. Now the 2014 elections are approaching. We should change ourselves into the Red Fort Express to reach the Red Fort in Delhi."
Hinting at the support from other parties for a possible formation of a Third Front, She said, "People have given us the green signal. I am there to be the engine driver. We would take them safely to reach Delhi."
It is to be noted that Jayalalithaa has said a curt 'no' to the recent overtures of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and has refused to enter into a pre-poll truck with the party. It has decided to go alone in the Lok Sabha polls. (Must Read: NaMo shouldn't underestimate Amma's southern challenge )
It was also decided in the meeting that the party must strive to win all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and decimate Karunanidhi.
The party leaders envisage a greater role for their supremo at national level and want Jayalalithaa to take up the reins at the Centre to ensure the rights of the Tamils. Even Jayalalithaa has on many occasions said there would be a regime change at the Centre and that she would throw out the anti-people policies of the Congress-led UPA.
At AIADMK's general meeting, partly leaders criticised the Centre's stand on CHOGM and fishermen issue and also for its offer to train Sri Lankan Naval officers while Jayalalithaa was given the power to decide on alliance.
In a style which seemed to have been borrowed from Narendra Modi, she hit out at the weak policies of the Central government. "Not just China but even small countries like Sri Lanka are threatening India. The Centre is perplexed and not able to handle. There is a need a strong leadership to handle economic and other crises. A strong government is needed to put down the other countries," she said.
In the aftermath of the ethnic civil strife in Sri Lanka, Jayalalithaa has claimed to have brought to the Prime Minister's attention the strong sentiments in Tamil Nadu on a range of issues relating to India's relations with the present regime in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has already passed four resolutions condemning the continuing discrimination against the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and violation of their human rights.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chennai-express-unveiled-jayalalithaa-pitches-for-pm-post/1/331959.html?source=hometoplead
NaMo shouldn't underestimate Amma's southern challenge
The Logger December 19, 2013 | UPDATED 20:23 IST
A ruling alliance at the Centre is incomplete without either the DMK or the AIADMK. A study of the coalitions which have formed governments for the past many years would show that.
The DMK was with the UPA in its two successive terms. Before that, the AIADMK was with the NDA when it was in power. In fact, this theory has been so unmistakable that political pundits have followed the state politics closely to be able to predict the outcome of Lok Sabha polls.
A Poster of Jayalalithaa. Reuters
This time they are baffled. The scenario in Tamil Nadu is very different from what it has ever been.
The Congress's ally at the Centre for 10 years, the DMK, has officially declared that it is not going to ally with the Congress. The DMK pulled out of the Centre on March 19, 2013, over the issue of a draft resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the alleged human rights' violations of Sri Lankan Tamils. But things had been coming to this end for a long time.
On October 17, 2012, 14 DMK MPs, including Union Ministers TR Baalu and A Raja, were forced to hand in their post-dated resignation letters to the head of the party, following the 2G spectrum scam. Party chief M Karunanidhi was livid with the UPA following the arrest of his daughter Kanimozhi and Raja for their involvement in the scam.
The DMK is also ruling out an alliance with the BJP.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
On the other side of the state politics' axis is the AIADMK, which has said a curt 'no' to BJP PM nominee Narendra Modi's overtures for a pre-poll truck. Its supremo Jayalalithaa has her own PM ambitions and one of the resolutions proposed at the AIADMK general meeting in Chennai on Thursday is that there have been PMs from many other states and this time it must be one from Tamil Nadu. She also said later in the day that she will lead the train to the Red Fort.
While her supporters believe she can emerge as a PM candidate in case of the Third Front forming a government at the Centre, former PM Deve Gowda has already backed her claim for prime ministership recently.
The wily Karunanidhi knows the scam-tainted Congress might not get good numbers in the face of a Narendra Modi wave and wants to keep the option of a post-poll alliance open.
Gujarat CM Narendra Modi
Jayalalithaa knows she has very strong poll prospects in the state and wants to dictate terms with whoever needs her support in the post-poll scenario. With an impressive number in the Lok Sabha, she can easily lead a Third Front to government formation.
The southern state has refused to help the tarot readers of politics this time. Who knows if in 2014 it is their turn to chart destiny?