Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa’s visits to the Capital have always held sway, and this time too, it promises to be the same.Jayalalithaa will be arriving tonight on a three-day visit, her first to Delhi after Dr Manmohan Singh took over as Prime Minister. Though she is here to inaugurate the new Tamil Nadu Bhavan, Jayalalithaa has already sought a meeting with the Prime Minister, to present a list of demands for the state.Sources said the AIADMK’s Puratchi Thalaivi will assess the ‘‘strengths and power of the Prime Minister’’ on whether he is the ‘‘head of the government’’ or if there is ‘‘another super power’’.The CM has been complaining against TN ministers in the Union Cabinet ever since the UPA Government came to power three months ago. AIADMK sources said though the state has 12 Ministers at the Centre holding crucial portfolios, the state has been ignored and neglected because of power politics. Not only are all the 40 MPs (including Pondicherry) from the non-ADMK side, so are the ministers.The Cauvery issue will top Jayalalithaa’s list. The other demands include drought relief (the state government has declared 28 out of the 29 districts drought-affected); Environment and Forest Ministry clearance for the new state Secretariat in Chennai and the Puikara thermal power plant; release of drought relief package of Rs 1,682 crore and 5.4 lakh tonnes of foodgrain, and the release of Rs 1,000 crore promised by Finance Minister P.Chidambaram in June for the desalination plant. AIADMK sources point out the state has suffered acutely because of the battle of upmanship between the party and the DMK. ‘‘It is incredible that UPA ally Laloo Prasad Yadav, with 23 MPs and seven Union Ministers, has got a Rs 3,000 crore package for Bihar, while Tamil Nadu, with 12 Ministers, is still waiting for funds of cleared projects.’’Says a source: ‘‘There is a complete breakdown of communication between the state and the Central ministers. Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote to every CM about the sales tax reduction but he did not show her this courtesy.’’
