Jayalalithaa doesn't meet Modi, keeps BJP and UPA both guessing

Barely a couple of days after a prepoll survey predicted that the AIADMK will win not only its highest tally ever in Tamil Nadu in next year’s Lok Sabha polls but will also more or less reduce all other parties to bit players in the state, all bets were off on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hopes to tie up an early pre-poll commitment with the AIADMK when Narendra Modi visited the southern state. Though there was a buzz in political circles about a likely meeting between the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and the AIADMK chief and TN chief minister J Jayalalithaa, the meeting did not eventually take place. [caption id=“attachment_118160” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. AFP[/caption] Earlier this year, Jayalalithaa had congratulated Modi on his being appointed chief of the BJP’s campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, she has revealed nothing about her intentions since the Gujarat chief minister was anointed prime ministerial candidate for the BJP. This week’s India TV-Times Now-C Voter survey has projected no less than a sweep for AIADMK in TN, forecasting a win in 29 of the state’s 39 LS seats. The Congress is projected as winning only one seat while the DMK is expected to be restricted to only five seats. Multiple surveys over the past weeks have predicted that despite his rising acceptability, the party will need strong alliances to deliver Delhi to Modi. On Friday evening, the much-awaited meeting between the two CMs failed to take place, leading to further speculation on the likelihood of Jayalithaa keeping her options open for now – only recently she permitted her ministers to attend functions where the UPA was showcasing Central schemes. Eventually, the TN CM arrived at her office in the secretariat late Friday afternoon and was there until evening. Not long after that Modi delivered his lecture at the Madras University Senate Hall. BJP leaders sought to maintain that there had never been any meeting scheduled. As reported by Firstpost earlier, Jayalalithaa hopes to play kingmaker in 2014. At the moment, the AIADMK has nine seats as against DMK’s 18; Congress has eight; and others have four. If the forecast comes true, the DMK will be in deep trouble and any party wishing to form a government at the Centre may want to woo the AIADMK. “Jayalalithaa has repeatedly promised her party workers that the AIADMK will decide the next prime minister of India. Looks like she is certainly inching towards that,” the report said. Earlier, at a BJP meeting in Chennai, Modi and state BJP leaders discussed the possibility of forging pre-poll alliances in the state. Reports said Modi suggested that a committee be formed to send a concrete proposal to the central party leadership on alliances in Tamil Nadu.