Support, goodwill gesture: Jaya

Jayalalitha, however, said her backing of Modi’s  “Sadbhavana,” for promoting peace and social harmony to accelerate the development process in Gujarat, did not indicate any change in the political dynamics at the national level.

In a brief interaction with reporters after garlanding the statue of the social reformer Periyar on his 133rd birthday celebrations here, Jayalalitha said Modi’s fast “is on the lines of our policy of communal harmony and secularism. The support is a goodwill gesture. It is not about changing political dynamics.”

Asked whether she would support Narendra Modi as a possible prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections, Jayalalitha said it was a hypothetical question.
However, she declined to elaborate.

To another query, Jayalalitha said she did not see the Supreme Court order asking her to appear personally before a Karnataka trial court in a disproportionate assets case against her as a setback.

Jayalalitha indicated that she would attend the proce­edings of the Bangalore Co­urt on October 20, as per the Supreme Court’s directive. These developments came as no setback. The case was being handled by her lawyers.

“I had appeared in courts in other cases in the past,” noted Jayalalitha.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman also supported Modi’s fast, saying he had every right to undertake the “Sadhbhavana” fast, as he had, particularly in the last seven to eight years, been subjected to “an orchestrated campaign to vilify him”.

For the Congress to now describe Modi’s fast as a “gimmick” only showed its frustration, said Nirmala. The people of Gujarat had rejected the Congress party.