The AIADMK will not support Pratibha Patil, the Congress nominee for the presidential election, party chief J Jayalalitha said on Saturday.
"We have decided not to support a Congress nominee," Jayalalitha told reporters after an AIADMK executive meeting in Chennai, without referring to Patil by name.
"It does not matter whether it is a man or a woman. We will go by our decision," she added.
Jayalalitha also claimed this was not only the AIADMK's decision but "a collective decision of the parties who form part of the non-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and non-Congress Front".
She disclosed that a final decision on fielding a candidate of the Third Front, or supporting a person who has already been nominated, or to abstain from voting will be taken June 18 when all the members of the front will meet in Chennai.
According to sources, the Third Front that, apart from the AIADMK, comprises the Samajwadi Party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Asom Gana Parisad (AGP), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the Kerala Congress, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) and the MDMK, may field its own nominee for the July 19 presidential elections.
Jayalalitha also said there was no question of her party supporting a DMK nominee for the post of the vice president, referring to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who reportedly hopes to occupy the post.
{{/usCountry}}Jayalalitha also said there was no question of her party supporting a DMK nominee for the post of the vice president, referring to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who reportedly hopes to occupy the post.
{{/usCountry}}"According to reliable sources, Karunanidhi was planning to make his son MK Stalin the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and was himself seeking the vice president's post," Jayalalitha maintained.