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AIADMK backing for Vajpayee, not BJP, says Jayalalitha

All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha today said her party would oppose any change in the leadership of the Union government and she would stand by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.

Addressing reporters at the party headquarters in Madras, she said her party was supporting the Vajpayee-led government at the Centre and not to a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Jayalalitha was replying to reporters' queries about the reported tussle between hardliners and moderates in the BJP, with the hardliners gaining an upper hand and seeking that Vajpayee be replaced as prime minister by Home Minister L K Advani.

She said she had not heard of such a squabble but added that the AIADMK would oppose any change in the leadership at the Centre.

"Our support is for Vajpayee, not anybody else," Jayalalitha said.

Jayalalitha criticised Advani for spoiling the image of the BJP-led government by his remarks against Bihar Governor S S Bhandari and causing a controversy. Now that the matter has been resolved, it should be left at that. However, the episode had damaged the image of the Centre, she said.

Jayalalitha said Advani had earlier blamed the allied parties for putting pressure on the Union government and thus damaging its image. The Bihar episode showed that Advani himself had damaged the image of the government, she said.

Jayalalitha clarified that what transpired within the BJP was that party's internal matter and that her own interest came only when the other parties were involved. Jayalalitha said her party would stand by the Vajpayee government and would not do anything to weaken it.

She also did not see any logic behind Congress President Sonia Gandhi's statement that the Vajpayee government's fall was imminent. The present scenario did not justify such a stand, she said. The AIADMK would support the motion in Parliament ratifying imposition of President's rule in Bihar, she said, adding that her party would support other legislative measures on the basis of issues alone.

The AIADMK leader called for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the attack on minorities and dalits in Bihar. There was no justification for blaming a group (of the Sangh Parivar) for the attack, without a thorough probe such as one by the CBI, she told a questioner.

Now that the Centre was in control of Bihar, there was no problem in ordering a CBI inquiry into the killing of the dalits, she added. Jayalalitha did not agree with a reporter's view that the Ranvir Sena, alleged to be behind the killing of the dalits in Bihar was patronised by the Samata Party and the BJP. Electorally, it may be true that the Samata Party had its main support base among the Bhumihar community, she said.

Jayalalitha said her party would continue to press the Centre for the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.

Asked about Vajpayee's statement in Delhi yesterday that the government could not accept a demand for the Karunanidhi government's dismissal. Jayalalitha said her party would continue to press for dismissal since the situation in the state was worse than that in Bihar where President's rule had been imposed.

Fundamentalist violence was on the rise in Tamil Nadu and there was no effort to contain it, she charged.

Even the governor's address to the state assembly, which eulogised the government's efforts to maintain law and order was silent on controlling fundamentalist violence, she alleged.

Asked whether her party would continue to support the Vajpayee government even if the Centre refused to dismiss the DMK government, Jayalalitha said, "We will cross the bridge when we come to it."

The AIADMK chief said she had telephoned Vajpayee this morning and congratulated him for undertaking the historic initiative to visit Pakistan.

She wished him all success in his efforts to normalise relations between the two countries, she said.

Jayalalitha refused to comment on the Centre's notification transferring corruption cases against her from special judges to other courts since the case was coming before the Supreme Court on February 22.

Asked about the statement of about 70 scientists urging the government not to deploy nuclear weapons on the country's borders as it would jeopardise peace in the region, the former chief minister said the country should have minimum nuclear deterrence. It was for the government to work out the modalities.

Answering another question, she said AIADMK legislature party leader S Thamaraikkani's statement in the assembly yesterday demanding a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was his personal opinion and not that of the party.

She said her party had softened its stand towards the Vajpayee government in the interest of the nation.

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