“He was never elected in the first place. He lost in the 2009 Lok Sabha election (from the Shivaganga constituency) and he has played a fraud on the nation,” she said in response to a question at a press meet at the end of her first visit to the national capital following her spectacular return to power in Tamil Nadu last month.
Describing Chidambaram’s continuance as a Union minister “untenable”, Jayalalitha sought his resignation, but rejected a suggestion that she was soft on the issue.
“AIADMK candidate Rajakannapan moved the court immediately after the results were announced. The matter is pending before the High Court. I cannot be held responsible for judicial delays,” she added.
“Our party has always maintained that Chidambaram’s victory was through fraudulent means. We have given all evidence of the fraud,” she said.
Chidambaram, on his part, hit back at Jayalalitha within an hour of her barb. Noting that her remarks were “gross contempt of court,” he said: “She knows that her candidate has filed an election petition in the Madras High Court and that has been pending since September 2009. Her statement, is therefore, in gross contempt of court.”
He said Jayalalitha has the habit of “starting on the wrong foot” and “she has always had utter contempt for court proceedings. Hence, her statement today is not at all surprising.”
He said Rajakannappan had also contested the Assembly elections last month and lost from one of the segments falling under the Sivaganga parliamentary constituency. “Perhaps, she would say that election result was also fraudulent,” he said.
Chidambaram is the second minister in the UPA government whose resignation Jayalalitha has sought. She has already demanded the resignation of Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran for his alleged involvement in the telecom licensing issue.
Responding to questions on a possible tie-up of AIADMK with the Congress, Jayalalitha asserted that if any party needed her support, “they should first come to me.”
“I did offer support to the UPA seven months ago, but things have changed now. The situation then was entirely different. After that much water has flowed down the bridge. The Congress has made it clear that its alliance continues with the DMK. So, the question of me offering support simply does not arise.”
Asked why she did not meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha said it would not be appropriate for her to meet Sonia Gandhi because the Congress and the DMK “are still allies.” However, she met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the day.
When asked whether she was open to the idea of aligning with the Congress, Jayalalitha said she cannot answer such “hypothetical” questions, but maintained that she does not want any confrontation with the Centre.
‘Notify Cauvery Tribunal award’
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the water resource ministry to notify the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal, DHNS reports from New Delhi.
She wanted Singh to direct the Cauvery water management board to implement the award “in letter and spirit”. She replied in the negative when asked whether she agreed with a government panel recommending making water a concurrent subject taking it out of the state subject as at present.
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