Cong to talk seat-sharing with Jaya

She said a couple of days back she had talked to AICC president Sonia Gandhi who informed her about the party’s decision to send Mukherjee.

Jayalalitha, who had been convicted and sentenced to three years’ RI in the TANSI land deal case by a special court here said there was no question of projecting anybody else except her as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the coming elections. The conviction, which effectively barred her from contesting any elections for six years, could be contested in a court of law, she said.

She also once again rejected the demand of her allies Congress and Tamil Maanila Congress for a share in power if the front was voted to power and said her party was not receptive to a coalition government idea in Tamil Nadu.

Jyalalitha also admitted for the first time that she was facing hurdles in contesting the coming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalitha said "there are legal procedures yet to be completed. Let us see whether I can contest. There are still legal avenues open to me."

She said people of Tamil Nadu had always given a clear verdict and claimed that various surveys and intelligence reports had indicated her party would emerge victorious in the coming polls.

She also said the Centre should immediately withdraw the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir as militants were misusing the opportunity. “The militant attack on Srinagar airport, though repulsed by the security forces, has claimed several lives. It is a commentary on the state of our security forces. I feel the Centre is not taking national security seriously’, she added.

Referring to the ceasefire, she said it had become counter-productive due to various militant attacks and therefore it should be withdrawn immediately. In any case the Centre should have elicited the views of all parties before announcing the ceasefire, she said condmening the attack on J and K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

On issue of passports being given to Hurriyat leaders to go to Pakistan, she said as far as Pakistan was concerned it was like walking on the edge of a sword. `I do not know on what basis the Centre has taken this stand. We do not know whether pressures from external agencies like the USA is also involved’, she said.

Taking the opportunity to attack the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha alleged that in Tamil Nadu there was a tacit support given by the state government to extremist and terrorist groups like the LTTE, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) and Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT).

`It is shocking that the Centre is not taking any cognizance of this development only because it needs the support of the DMK to be in power’, she charged.