Jayalalitha calls on Moopanar

CHENNAI, OCT 23: In a significant event which might pave the way for a political realignment in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha today called on Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) chief G K Moopanar, marking a thaw in their ten-year-old political rivalry.

Though Jayalalitha described the meeting as a “courtesy call” on Moopanar, who is convalescing after a heart problem, she hastened to add that the meeting had helped to “remedy the communication gap” that existed between them. “This is not a place to discuss politics. I heard that Moopanar was not keeping good health. I came to enquire about his health,” she said.

Today’s meeting was the first between them since 1989. In 1989, when Jayalalitha was admitted to a private hospital after she was allegedly attacked inside the Assembly, Moopanar, who was then the Congress Legislature Party leader, called on her. That gesture helped revive the ties between the Congress and AIADMK then. Later, TMC spokesperson B S Gnanadesikan also said it was only acourtesy call and that no political significance need be attached to the meeting of the two leaders.