Congress has to ask me if it wants my support: Jaya

Ruling out the possibility of a political realignment in the near future, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha made it clear on Tuesday that the Congress would have to take the first step towards making friends with her. Shekhar Iyer reports.Amma takes on PC

Ruling out the possibility of a political realignment in the near future, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha made it clear on Tuesday that the Congress would have to take the first step towards making friends with her.

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AIADMK leader Jayalalitha was on her first visit to Delhi after sweeping the last assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, replacing the UPA partner, DMK, led by M Karunanidhi.

Considering the DMK leaders’ alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam and the strained ties between the party and the UPA, she hinted that the coalition would have to dump the DMK before seeking her support.

But when asked at a press conference whether she was open to the idea of an alliance with the Congress in case the DMK pulled out, she said, “I cannot answer hypothetical questions ... It’s premature to comment on such questions. No one from the UPA has asked me this.”

But when reminded of her offer of support in November last year, she said, “The offer was made seven months ago. The situation was entirely different then.”

On textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK, who is facing allegations of tweaking rules to help a Malaysia-based company when he was telecom minister, she said if he did not step down on his own, "the Prime Minister should drop him".

As she wrapped up her "cordial" meeting with the PM, she said she would not meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. “As of today, the Congress and the DMK continue to be partners in the coalition government at the centre. In such a situation, it would not be appropriate for me to call on Sonia Gandhi.” On her plans to contest the next Lok Sabha polls, she said, “It is just been three weeks since I took over as CM for the third time. I am flattered by your question.”