Jaya to meet Manmohan on SL

12 June 2011 09:48 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 23 Bookmark

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is expected to discuss issues like Sri Lankan Tamils and various developmental projects in her state.

The visit comes at a time when there are growing strains in the seven-year-old alliance between Congress and DMK after the drubbing in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry elections for which Congress has blamed the 2G scam.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had congratulated Jayalalithaa over phone after her victory, a gesture which set off speculation that the two parties would come together after more than a decade.

However, it is not known whether the AIADMK chief would also call on Gandhi during her stay. Jayalalithaa has been avoiding questions on her possible meeting with Gandhi during her interactions with the media after assuming office.

Long before the elections, Jayalalithaa had offered her support to the Congress-led coalition at the Centre if it dumped the DMK.

The issue of Indian fishermen being allegedly attacked by Lankan Navy when they cross into its waters inadvertently is also expected to be discussed during with her meeting with Singh on Tuesday.

Jayalalithaa had also shot off a letter to Singh last week on the fishermen attack issue.

Within weeks of coming into power, the Jayalalithaa government had passed an unanimous resolution in the Assembly seeking imposition of economic sanctions on Sri Lanka for alleged human rights violations during the war against LTTE .

The Centre also sent National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon to meet her in Chennai before he left for Colombo along with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to hold talks with Lankan authorities.

After taking over, Jayalalithaa had said the financial position of the state was "very bad" and she would need Centre's assistance to implement several projects and schemes. (PTI)