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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa has denied the Congress' claim that she had backed its president Sonia Gandhi for prime ministership after the fall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government in 1999.
On Friday, the Congress had released the letter that Jayalalithaa had written to then president K R Narayanan on April 21, 1999. It 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 has decided to extend support to a government to be formed by the Congress-(I) led by Mrs Sonia Gandhi."
However, on Saturday, Jayalalithaa said she had referred to the "Congress-led by Sonia Gandhi" to identify the party, and not to express support for Gandhi's candidature for prime ministership.
Since political parties were split into distinctly identifiable units, it was customary to refer to them by the name of their president, she said.
The Congress statement is "totally misleading and malicious", she added.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Jyoti Basu was her choice for prime minister at that time, Jayalalithaa said, adding that she had persuaded other like-minded opposition parties to accept it.
"To my utter dismay, Sonia Gandhi categorically refused to support Basu, and all the Herculean efforts take by me to bring diverse parties from all regions together were scuttled by her," she said.
"Sonia thought that she was ahead in the race and imagined that her foreign origin and connection made her a superior candidate," Jayalalithaa said.
Jayalalithaa also described as "obnoxious" Reddy's statement linking her opposition to Gandhi to the court cases pending against her. "It deserves to be condemned, since it implies that the apex court is amenable to pressure from the ruling party," she said, adding, "this would amount to contempt of court and denigrating the judiciary, which would not be tolerated."
Jayalalithaa also said "it was a crying shame, and an indication of moral bankruptcy in the Congress, for projecting Sonia Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate".
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