Narendra Modi: Jayalalithaa extended support for Modi's fast on his request

CHENNAI: Dismissing speculation that her party was cosying up to the BJP, chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday said she extended support to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s fast only after his request.

“Mr Modi’s fast is in line with our policy of secularism and maintaining communal harmony and peace. He spoke to me over phone and asked me to send somebody to participate in his fast. So I decided to send our two MPs, M Thambidurai and V Maithreyan,” Jayalalithaa said.

On whether her support indicated a change in political dynamics , she said: “Not at all. You are reading too much into it. This is just an expression of goodwill and there is nothing to find fault with this fast because it is for the expressed purpose of maintaining communal peace and harmony.”

While there are suggestions that Jayalalithaa’s recent scathing attacks on the UPA government are an indication of her growing closeness to the BJP, the AIADMK leader made it clear that her support for Modi was more at a personal level. Her friendship with the Gujarat CM goes a long way back. She was known to have been friendly with Modi even while she refused to join hands with his party in the state. In the May assembly elections, Jayalalithaa declined to have any truck with BJP, which has a thin presence in Tamil Nadu.

Soon after coming to power, Jayalalithaa preferred to take a soft stand towards the Congress, pointing out that the Tamil Nadu’s welfare was foremost and she needed the Centre’s support to get funds for the state.
But after the Centre declined to open its purse strings when she presented her demand for funds to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh crore, Jayalalithaa changed tack and unleashed scathing attacks on the UPA government.