By IANS
Chennai : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday had a lunch meeting with Tamil Nadu’s main opposition leader, AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha, sparking speculation that her party would again join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also attended the meeting on the first day of Pongal, the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.
Prasad later told the media: “It was an extraordinary lunch! We discussed a whole range of issues.”
It was a very successful meeting, he added.
The lunch menu had been as much a secret as the exact nature of the tête-à-tête at Jayalalitha’s Poes Garden residence. Informed sources said Modi and Prasad were offered the chakkarai pongal (sweet rice) after the traditional starter, kara pongal (peppered rice).
Jayalalitha had been part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but she pulled out of it. Last year, she was among the key leaders that floated a “third front” that would be equidistance from the BJP as well as the Congress. She, however, drifted apart soon.
The lunch meeting was seen as a step towards resuming the alliance ahead of the general elections due in 2009.
Modi, who led the BJP to a record hat-trick victory in Gujarat last month, was here to take part in the 37th annual day celebrations of Tamil magazine Tughlaq, run by journalist, political satirist and former MP Cho Ramaswamy.
As he arrived here amid tight security after praying at the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayoor of neighbouring Kerala, there were photo-ops galore all day.
He waved a full-blown lotus, the BJP’s election symbol, at the media persons when he visited the BJP office here.
He fended off their questions, saying: “My official engagement is with Cho. I am sure he will invite the media and you will get sufficient opportunity to seek your answers. This is essentially an inner-party meeting.”
At Poes Garden, it was a huge bouquet of flowers that Modi presented to Jayalalitha, and a picture of the deity at the Guruvayoor shrine.
Earlier in the day, he was welcomed by senior state BJP leaders including L. Ganesan and S. Thirunavukkarasu as well as Cho.
Playing down the meeting between Jayalalitha and Modi, Ganesan told the media: “Modi is a friend of Jayalalitha for a long time.
“Our aim is to get the maximum number of MPs from Tamil Nadu to support L.K. Advani as the prime ministerial candidate.
“We are not averse to an alliance with any party, barring the Congress, the Left and DMK for the next Lok Sabha polls,” he added.
The offices of the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Munnani along with Jayalalitha’s house were all under a security blanket, with the Chennai police mounting “maximum vigil”.
Kamaraj Arangam, an auditorium where Modi was to address the Tughlaq function in the evening, was teeming with police dogs and uniformed men scanning every inch as large cut-outs of Modi waited to greet him.
Muslim outfits and political parties including the Left parties and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (Dalit Panthers) have been protesting Modi’s Chennai visit.
Over 300 Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) workers were arrested Monday when they attempted to stage protest demonstrations.
State CPI-M executive member V. Meenakshisundaram and 119 others, including women, were arrested in Saidapet area while about 175 party workers, led by legislator S.K. Mahendran, were taken into custody at the district collector’s office.
The Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam attempted to hold a black flag demonstration at the Kamaraj Arangam.
Police sources said the union home ministry, the Intelligence Bureau and allied organisations had sent alerts to the state to mount extra vigil and ensure Modi’s safety.