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Jaya extends stay in Delhi

The announcement of mid-term polls today forced AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha to postpone her return to Madras by a day to continue confabulations with Opposition leaders with whom she had allied to bring down the Vajpayee government.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and CPI-M general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet made courtesy calls on her at her hotel and discussed the latest political situation. Former prime minister I K Gujral was also scheduled to meet her.

Surjeet said he had come to meet the AIADMK leader to thank her for her role in bringing down the BJP-led coalition.

Jayalalitha came to Delhi on April 12 and withdrew support to the Vajpayee government two days later. Jayalalitha and her entourage were initially booked to leave the capital on April 19 but she extended her stay after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost the vote of confidence on April 17.

After the Vajpayee government's defeat Jayalalitha had a series of meetings with Opposition leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, RLM leaders Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI-M leaders Jyoti Basu and Surjeet, besides calling on President K R Narayanan on three occasions.

Jayalalitha had pledged unconditional support to the Congress initially. But following Mulayam Singh Yadav's refusal to support a minority Congress government, the AIADMK leader had made efforts to forge together a third front government led by Jyoti Basu and supported by the Congress from outside.

UNI

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