Amar Singh had also reportedly said the UNPA had no quarrel with the decision to set up a UPA-Left committee, and that the ruling combination could have its own consultative mechanism for every political party to present its views.

“This is definitely not the view of the AIADMK at all. Moreover, this cannot be termed as the considered or collective view of the UNPA. This new viewpoint was never discussed between the constituents of the UNPA, certainly not with the AIADMK,” Jayalalithaa said, making clear her rancour at not being consulted.

As far as the AIADMK was concerned, it believed that there could only be one single mechanism with regard to such a vital and crucial national issue, irrespective of how many parties are in it, whether they were allies, outside supporters of the Government or opposition parties, she said. “This is a national issue which cannot permit promotion of any sectional view and cannot be split into parts or atomised.”

She added that on Saturday, in a letter to a newspaper, she had clarified that the Left parties had not invited the AIADMK to participate in a protest rally in the Capital against India’s joint Naval exercises with other nations. Only two constituent parties of the UNPA, the Samajwadi Party and the TDP, had been invited to join the rally. These two parties had also not even bothered to inform the AIADMK about the protest demonstrations or their participation in it, Jayalalithaa said.