AIADMK resents Cong. attitude

By Suresh Nambath

CHENNAI, FEB. 17. The AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, agreed to meet the Congress emissaries on February 19, but she delayed consent to indicate her displeasure to the Congress high command for having demanded an ``explanation'' from the AIADMK for admitting the pro-LTTE Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) into the electoral front.

Highly-placed sources in the AIADMK today said the appointment came through only after the Congress made ``desperate'' attempts. Apparently, Ms. Jayalalitha was upset after media reports quoted Congress leaders as saying that the AIADMK would be asked to ``explain'' the admission of the PMK into the secular front.

Discussions during the meeting between Ms. Jayalalitha and the Congress emissaries, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, would be confined to the question of alliance between the two parties. Ms. Jayalalitha would not ``countenance'' any attempt by the emissaries to bring up the PMK issue.

AIADMK leaders maintained that their party was free to choose allies without having to seek permission from the Congress. ``We are not a subsidiary of the Congress; we are not a satellite of the Congress like the TMC,'' they said. The AIADMK, as an independent party, would take independent decisions on alliance.

In any case, party seniors point out that the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who had sought clemency for Nalini, a convict in the Rajiv assassination case, could not possibly raise objections about the pro-LTTE leanings of the PMK. According to them, Ms. Jayalalitha was ``outraged'' when Ms. Gandhi sought clemency for Nalini as it was during the AIADMK regime that the accused in the Rajiv assassination case were brought to trial.

Ms. Jayalalitha, it seems, would like the Congress to not rake up the issue of the admission of the PMK into the front and directly begin seat negotiations. As the AIADMK alliance with the PMK had already been finalised, talks could only revolve around a possible electoral arrangement.

However, AIADMK leaders denied that Ms. Jayalalitha was upset at the Congress and the TMC deciding to bargain together for seats. ``They can sink or swim together.'' The AIADMK, they added, had offered a ``reasonable number'' of seats to the TMC and the Congress. Now, it was up to these parties to accept or reject the offer.

We have concerns: Sonia

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