Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Partymen want Jayalalithaa as PM

By Our Special Correspondent

The AIADMK general secretary, Jayalalithaa, arriving for the party executive committee meeting, as senior office-bearers line up to accord her a floral welcome at a kalyana mandapam at Vadapalani, Chennai, on Tuesday. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI DEC. 17. Taking the cue from the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, who wanted the AIADMK to play a bigger role at the national level, party functionaries at the general council meeting here today expressed their desire to see her as Prime Minister.

Speaker after speaker stressed the same theme, portraying a scenario in which the AIADMK would hold the reins at the Centre and Ms. Jayalalithaa would guide the destiny of the country.

Prefacing their thoughts with a lavish praise of Ms. Jayalalithaa, the speakers claimed that the country needed her, and that she should not confine herself to the State but should spread her influence all over.

Most of the speakers, at the closed-door meeting, expanded on the idea she articulated earlier--a third front alternative to the BJP and the Congress in which regional parties would play the dominant role. Of course, they had no doubt that the AIADMK would be at the core of a coalition to be shaped by Ms. Jayalalithaa.

Interestingly, some of the speakers attributed the BJP victory in Gujarat to Ms. Jayalalithaa. Once she raised the `foreign origin' of the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi, and brought the national spotlight on the issue, the Congress campaign flopped. As the star campaigner of the Congress, Ms. Gandhi, they said, was unable to overcome the crippling blow dealt by Ms. Jayalalithaa.

Moreover, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, gained considerably because he included in the manifesto a proposal for an anti-conversion law, on the lines of the Tamil Nadu legislation. But for this, the BJP would have been unable to register such a massive victory, they said. Tamil Nadu, and more specifically, Ms. Jayalalithaa, had shown the way for the rest of the country, they claimed. The general council, preceded by an executive committee meeting, ratified the appointment of Pulamai Pithan as the party chairman. Ministers kept a low-profile at the meeting.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Partymen want Jayalalithaa as PM
• Tannery effluents continue to pollute Palar
• Allowance up for meal centres
• Coimbatore panchayat turns a role model
• TN will get lion's share from Koodankulam power
• NLC thermal station unit dedication today
• 'Re-establish contact with masses'
• Centre should hear objections, says Tribunal
• Free cycles for 10,177 more SC/ST girls

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu