Even though the BJP is trying its best to woo Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, the latter kept them guessing by not revealing her cards.On a day when Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh came calling to meet Jayalalithaa instead of her going to North Block, she dismissed speculation that she was joining either the BJP or the Congress. Keeping the suspense alive, Jayalalithaa even revived the possibility of the emergence of the Third Front after the Assembly elections. ‘‘It is too premature to write off the emergence of the Third Front,’’ she told reporters. According to her, it is only after the Assembly elections that the national parties will begin to talk of a Third Front. ‘‘I prefer to reserve my comments,’’ she stated. In the same breath, she added that she kept meeting Third Front leaders off and on.‘‘As far as AIADMK is concerned, it is not moving anywhere. It is where it was,’’ she said, replying to persistent queries on whether she was moving closer to the BJP. She clarified the AIADMK’s support to the Vajpayee Government was ‘‘issue-based’’.The Tamil Nadu CM ruled out campaigning for either of the national parties in the ensuing Assembly elections saying that it was unnecessary. ‘‘Why should I campaign in Assembly elections? We are concerned on who is going to form government at the Centre,’’ she remarked.Jayalalithaa stood by her remarks on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins. When asked that there was talk of a Third Front emerging in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa quipped that there was only one front in Tamil Nadu and that was the AIADMK-led front, which has the people’s support. She said the very fact that the people have voted for AIADMK in the five by-elections is in itself testimony that they understand the need for fiscal reforms. She said the people are very happy with the State Government’s performance.When asked why Jaswant Singh came calling, she clarified that the meeting took place at her initiative. She had sought a meeting with him to present various issues relating to the State. Singh, however, graciously agreed to come and meet her instead in the Tamil Nadu House. ‘‘No political message was to be carried,’’ she said.
