Jaya hits the ceiling

Claiming that the assurances for the dismissal had been given on several occasions, Jayalalitha, in a hard-hitting 13-page statement, said the 8220;selective amnesia8221; of BJP leadership and its forgetfulness on some other crucial issues was 8220;most unfortunate.8221;

The AIADMK supremo said when the BJP came to Chennai to strike the alliance with the AIADMK, we had requested that the government should be dismissed and they agreed to it8217;.

At the AIADMK silver jubilee conference in Tirunelveli in Januarythis year, Advani had acknowledged her party8217;s demand for dismissal of the DMK ministry by raising his hand, she said adding if Advani was not in agreement with the demand he should have either walked out of the meeting or clarified his position in his speech.

8220;Does the Constitution say that the views expressed once can be changed after becoming ministers?,8221; she asked.

Jayalalitha, who is going to Delhi on June 27 for talks with the BJP leadership, said Advani had himself attributed Coimbatore blasts to 8220;conspiracy hatched by the DMK8221; and his party president Kushabhau Thakre had asserted that ISI activities had increased in the state.

Claiming that 300 bomb blasts had taken place since DMK assumed office, she said, 8220;we will continue to press this demand for dismissal.8221; The government in the state was a threat to national security, she said.

With Jayalalitha launching a frontal attack on Advani, the prospect of her meeting Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Advani at Delhi to discuss her demandfor the dismissal of the dmk government now appears uncertain. She is also under attack from the state unit of the BJP.

Jayalalitha claimed that Vajpayee and Advani had been holding the view, more strongly than her party that the law and order situation in the state was bad.

She said Advani had promised her, after visiting Coimbatore on February 14, when the city was rocked by serial bomb blasts, that the DMK government would be dismissed as soon as the BJP-led coaltion came to power at the Centre.

This was communicated to her through Rangarajan Kumaramangalam now Union Power Minister at Tiruchirapalli the same night when Advani addressed a public meeting along with her, she added.

Jayalalitha said it was condemnable that Advani and some sections of the media were now alleging that she was bargaining for the dismissal of the DMK regime.

The law and order situation in Tamil Nadu had deteriorated even last year itself when the southern districts had been rocked by caste clashes, shesaid.

Jayalalitha said she had been seeking the dismissal of the DMK government even before the BJP and other parties approached her for an electoral alliance.

The BJP was keen that the menace of fundamentalism in the state should be put down and it had agreed to her demand for dismissal of the DMK government if the BJP-led coalition came to power.

She claimed that Advani had endorsed the demand made by leaders of alliance parties, including Vazhapdi K Ramamurthy Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress, Subramanian Swamy Janata Party and Ramadoss Pattali Makkal Katchi for the dismissal of the DMK government at Thirunelveli in January last.

The same demand was repeated at the February 1 election camapaign meeting on the Marina here, which was attended by Advani and Vajpayee and both the leaders had endorsed her demand by lifting their hands in solidarity, Jayalalitha recalled.

Speaking at a public meeting in Mumbai on February 27, Advani had faulted the DMK regime for not providing adequate security to theBJP leaders during the election campaign, she pointed out.

She also wondered why the Centre did not send a second Central team to assess the law and order situation.