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Jaya promises not to withdraw support to Vajpayee

The government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee has received a shot in the arm with All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha announcing for the first time that she has a "very good working relationship" with the Centre and her party's support to it will continue.

"Things are changing with lightning speed today. The BJP government and we have a very good working relationship," Jayalalitha told STAR News in an interview to be telecast on Sunday, January 10.

Jayalalitha also made it clear that her party would not be responsible for inflicting a mid-term election on the country. The AIADMK will not destabilise the coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, she said.

The AIADMK leader's statement has puzzled political observers, coming as it does after her strident criticism of the government on the happenings in Gujarat and the sacking of navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat.

She had demanded the dismissal of the BJP government in Gujarat for its failure to protect the Christian minority.

Taking strong exception to Admiral Bhagwat's ouster, she had demanded an inquiry into the matter.

Jayalalitha, however, declined to give unquestioned support to the government, saying it would be as unwise as giving a blank cheque to someone.

To another question, she said: "I have made myself very clear. If there is going to be a mid-term poll in the country, the AIADMK will not be a cause for it."

Questioned about her relations with Congress politicians, she said that just because she had an alliance with the BJP did not mean she should not speak to anyone in the Congress. The AIADMK had an alliance with the Congress for several years and she knew practically all the top Congress leaders, she said.

Asked if "anything is cooking" between her and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to topple the Vajpayee government, she said: "I don't know how to cook. She is a very straightforward person. I don't indulge in back-stabbing or treachery... If I feel that the central government is doing wrong, I say it openly."

Sasikala part of my personal life: Jaya

Asked about her companion Sasikala Natrajan, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister said the charges against her are all trumped-up. "She is part of my personal life and has nothing to do with my political career," she said. "She has been victimised and prosecuted because of her association with me."

Jayalalitha also declared that she has stopped wearing jewellery. The DMK government had humiliated her by "publishing photographs" and making "demeaning remarks" on how her jewellery is in court custody.

"I have vowed to fight legally and bring back the jewellery and sell it for the benefit of the poor and the needy," she said.

Jayalalitha also described as an exaggeration the charge that she has 10,000 sarees. Everything has been declared to the income-tax department, she said.

The Tamil Nadu page

UNI

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