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Jayalalithaa in politically-charged New Delhi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will be in New Delhi on Monday on a two-day politically significant visit with both Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, not on the best of terms, keenly watching her signals.
On her first visit to the capital after assuming office, 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.
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Jayalalithaa in politically-charged New Delhi
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.
Later on Monday evening, Jayalalithaa will host a tea party for 30 top civil servants of Tamil Nadu IAS/IPS cadre posted in New Delhi, at the Tamil Nadu House.
Out of the 30 civil servants, 10 are in the senior most positions as secretaries to the Government of India.
Jayalalithaa in politically-charged New Delhi
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 Dr Singh last week on the fishermen attack issue.
Jayalalithaa in politically-charged New Delhi
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.