If they (UPA) need my support,they should seek it: Jayalalithaa

Jayalalithaa also made it clear she had not been approached by anyone from the UPA for an alliance.

Jayalalithaa,whom Sonia Gandhi called after the elections to congratulate her on her victory last month,was asked several questions on the possibility of the Congress and the AIADMK coming together.

She was also reminded about her declaration of open support to the Centre in November last and was asked whether it was still valid.

“The offer was made seven months ago. The situation was entirely different. After that,much water has flown under the bridge. The Congress has made it clear that its alliance continues with DMK.

“Both are still partners in the UPA coalition government. So,the question of my offering support simply does not arise,” she said.

Political circles have been abuzz on Jayalalithaa’s evolving equation with the UPA,particularly in the backdrop of bete noire K Kaunanidhi’s fall from grace,due to public antagonism to his scam-tainted ministers,including daughter Kanimozhi.

The 2G spectrum scam blew up on the DMK’s face a few months ago,costing the party the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The DMK is now clinging on to the UPA to save face as well as to secure the future of its jailed MPs.

Initially,when a reporter asked whether there was a possibility of a realignment between Congress and AIADMK,Jayalalithaa replied: “It is premature to comment on such questions. No one from the UPA has asked me this.”

To another question whether she was open to the idea of aligning with the Congress,she said she could not answer such “hypothetical” questions.

But,the chief minister was forthcoming later when she said: “As of today,the Congress still has an alliance with the DMK. Congress and DMK today continue to be partners in the coalition government.

“In such a situation,it would not be appropriate for me to call on Mrs Sonia Gandhi who is also the Congress President.”

In her meeting,Jayalalithaa handed the Prime Minister a memorandum detailing the state government’s demands including an additional 1,000 MW of power to Tamil Nadu from the central grid.

Jaya also accused Home Minister P Chidambaram of getting himself elected to Parliament through “fraudulent” means.

“Our party has always maintained that Mr Chidambaram’s victory was through fraudulent means… his continuance in the Union Council of Minsters is untenable,” Jayalalithaa told reporters at her maiden press conference in New Delhi after

assuming office last month.

“Mr Chidambaram was never elected to Parliament in 2009. He has played a fraud on the nation. Our party candidate won the election,” she said when pressed further on the issue.

The chief minister alleged Chidambaram was announced the successful candidate because of a fraud committed by a data entry operator.

Turning on the DMK,she said the DMK supremo M Karunanidhi,his family and leading lights of the party are feeling the heat now because of the corruption in the previous regime and said a few DMK leaders were already in jail and “many more are likely to go to jail”.

“All cases against DMK and its members have been initiated by the Centre of which DMK is a partner. None of the cases were filed either by me or by party members,” she said.

On Karunanidhi’s charge she was vindictive,the chief minister rejected said: “We are not looking for any opportunity and we are more interested in the development of the state”.

She demanded the resignation of Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran,who is facing allegations of a quid quo pro in allocation of spectrum to Aircel,and said if he does not step down on his own,“the Prime Minister should drop him”.

Dayanidhi Maran faces allegations that he favoured a particular firm with spectrum when he was Telecom Minister in UPA I.

Jayalalithaa said besides the extravagant style of functioning,“all pervasive corruption,nepotism,lack of governance and dominance of one family in every business” are the reasons for the fall of the DMK government.

She said people felt they were living during the regime of Hitler or Uganda’s Idi Amin and were “waiting for the right opportunity to punish them and did it through a silent revolution when they got the opportunity. This is why all your exit polls went wrong”.

To a question on her government’s promise to nationalise cable TV operations in the state which is aimed at targetting Maran brothers,she said: “We will be doing it very soon.”

Jayalalithaa said the alleged attack on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy figured to a “great extent” during her talks with the Prime Minister.

“There is a lot of discrepancies in the figure given by the Sri Lankan government and the private agencies on the number of Sri Lankan Tamils still in the camps. So I requested the Prime Minister to verify and get the correct figure,” she said.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister said she requested the Prime Minister to consider sending a delegation of MLAs from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka to see for themselves the living conditions of the Tamils displaced due to the decades-old civil war.

“We would want the Tamils in Sri Lanka to lead a life of dignity that is on par with their Sinhala counterparts,” she said.

She parried a question on whether she thought Tamils in Sri Lanka should have a separate state.

Referring to the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka by India in 1974,she accused Karunanidhi of not approaching the Supreme Court seeking a stay for the implementation of the agreement.

“Despite a precedent of the Supreme Court declaring null and void the ceding of Berubari to then East Pakistan,Karunanidhi did not approach the Supreme Court,” she said.

Demanding the revoking of the 1974 agreement on grounds that it was never approved by both houses of Parliament,Jayalalithaa said Katchatheevu should be taken back so that Indian fishermen can have a decent catch when they venture into the sea.