Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Tuesday held discussions with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on issues of common interest.
After meeting Ms. Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat, Mr. Jaitley said that it was purely a courtesy call with no particular agenda.
However, the meeting with the AIADMK leader assumes significance in the backdrop of coming Presidential elections.
Talking to reporters here he said, “When people at this level meet, obviously they discuss several issues of common interest and the current issue of common interest is federalism, which, we find, is being seriously encroached upon by the Central government.”
On the formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Mr. Jaitley said there was a commonality on the stand taken by the Chief Ministers and that of his party. This was a well known fact.
Asked if the Presidential elections was discussed, the BJP leader said, “These are the things not to be discussed here.” The AIADMK has nine members in the Lok Sabha, five in the Rajya Sabha and 150 legislators in the State Assembly, who are in the electoral college, for electing the President.
Mr. Jaitley, who is the president of the Delhi District Cricket Association, is in the city for the inaugural of the Indian Premier League.
While Ms. Jayalalithaa has been critical of the UPA regime and holds the view that it is trampling on the rights of States, there has been no overt move on her part to warm up to the BJP. During a visit to Chennai in January, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani had described her as “a natural ally of the BJP”.
Only Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has met Ms. Jayalalithaa in recent times from the BJP, but both parties have not attributed any political significance to their meetings. Recently, AIADMK representatives participated in the swearing-in ceremony of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
