Chennai: It was sweltering hot in New Delhi on Tuesday, but the atmosphere inside the sprawling 7, Race Course was one of real warmth as Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed his “good friend” and potential ally Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for a discussion that covered issues of state and national politics over a cup of tea.
Meeting at a “politically advantageous” juncture with her party wielding a huge strength of 50 MPs in Parliament, the meeting, which was keenly noticed in political circles, especially by Congress, is said to have ended on a cordial note with the Prime Minister reportedly assuring Jayalalithaa that the demands made by her would be looked into.
As Jayalalithaa presented a shawl and bouquet to Modi, with whom she has excellent relations dating back to his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he accepted them with a broad smile and both posed for photographs as shutterbugs went agog.
The two leaders were involved in a serious discussion with clear elements of positivity during which the Prime Minister, whose government is just rising in terms of numbers in the Rajya Sabha, is believed to have sought “greater cooperation” from Jayalalithaa since her party has 13 MPs, who could well turn the game in favour of the ruling party at the Centre. However, the Chief Minister stuck to her stand on GST, maintaining that the Centre should accept amendments proposed by Tamil Nadu Government.
‘Tamil should be official language of HC’
There may have been no official word on what transpired between the two leaders, but it is understood that politics, especially AIADMK’s support to government in Parliament, came up for discussion. Neither the Chief Minister nor any representative of the Prime Minister spoke to the media on this.
Covering a total of 29 issues, the Chief Minister submitted a 96-page memorandum to the PM covering almost every aspect and subject concerning Tamil Nadu — be it the livelihood of fishermen, water wars with neighbouring States, traders, issues of student community, ‘jallikattu’ and even demanding official language status for Tamil.
Not just that, the Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that Tamil should be made the officiating language in Madras high court, virtually marching ahead of DMK and its chief M. Karunanidhi, who have been trying to reemerge as champions of Tamils and their causes.
By covering the entire gamut of issues of the State, Jayalalithaa left no issue for any other political party to take credit as she included each and every sector in her memorandum while meeting the Prime Minister with a renewed mandate for the next five years.
Political observers say that, perhaps, the bonhomie between the CM and PM might have prompted Karunanidhi to train his guns at the BJP of late. The DMK chief, for the past few days, has been vocal in his criticism against BJP on the issue of including Sanskrit in school curriculum across the country.
The direct retort to Karunanidhi came from BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan who asked the DMK chief to refrain from practicing “language politics”. “Karunanidhi says no one has the right to force any language on anyone. I wish to remind him that no one has the right to tell anyone not to learn any language," she shot back.
