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The Congress on Friday refuted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's claim that she had never supported Sonia Gandhi for the post of prime minister.
Releasing Jayalalithaa's letter written to the then President K R Narayanan on April 21, 1999, extending support for the formation of a Congress-led government headed by Sonia Gandhi after the fall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, party spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said: "This document clinchingly proves that Jayalalithaa misled the nation."
The letter, which he read out, said: "Consequent on the situation arising from the vote of confidence lost in the Lok Sabha by the Council of Ministers headed by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 17th April, 1999, the AIADMK [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] has decided to extend support to a government to be formed by the Congress-(I) led by Mrs Sonia Gandhi."
Asserting that Jayalalithaa "was a novice in national politics and was an Alice in Wonderland in Delhi", the Congress spokesman said, "Her sole occupation, we all know, is a one-point programme for liberation from major criminal cases."
He played down the issue of Jayalalithaa's opposition to Gandhi becoming prime minister and said: "When anybody shifts positions on a single issue so many times, the position loses its value."
When asked why the party was playing down Jayalalithaa's comments, he said: "We have to fight battle on our ground. Not on your [her] ground."
The party also released a copy of the resolution adopted by the AIADMK parliamentary party at its meeting on April 21, 1999, resolving to extend support to a Gandhi-led government.
Asked why the party was releasing the letters, Reddy said "we wanted to expose her bluff", as two days earlier she had denied writing any letter extending support to Gandhi's candidature for prime ministership.
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