Chennai, September 2
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms Jayalalithaa, has stepped up her no-holds-barred assault on the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and renewed her appeal to all political parties to reach a consensus on a legislation to bar persons of foreign origin from holding high constitutional offices.
Political circles here are intrigued over the real motive behind her fresh attack on the Congress President, although some continue to project the theory that she is trying to get closer to the BJP which appears to consider Mrs Gandhi as a threat to its future electoral fortunes. Ms
Jayalalithaa herself has denied she has any such idea.
Describing Mrs Gandhi repeatedly as Ms Antonio Maino, Mrs
Jayalalithaa told a press conference today that “India has to be saved from the clutches of Sonia Gandhi and her rapacious relatives,” who, she alleged, had been misusing their position in India for their personal benefit.
The Chief Minister refuted suggestions that she was making outbursts against Mrs Gandhi, and said she was only making “precise, calm and valid” statements about the Congress President.
She said the general elections were only a year and a half away and Mrs Gandhi was already being projected by the media that she was going to be the next Prime Minister as there was no alternative to her. She had herself conveyed this impression by her demeanour. This could not be tolerated and “we have to arrive at a consensus.”
Ms
Jayalalithaa appealed to the Centre to bring in legislation in a joint session of Parliament: just as it had done in the case of POTA to bar persons of foreign origin from holding high constitutional offices.
The Chief Minister also turned her ire against the BJP and the Congress for giving a “raw deal” to Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery water issue.
