By IANS,
Chennai : AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha met Communist Party of India general secretary A.B. Bardhan here Thursday to give shape to a third national front ahead of the parliamentary elections.
“There are indications of other parties joining our front. We have left the decision concerning their admission to our front and their terms to her (Jayalalitha),” Bardhan told reporters here.
The CPI and the AIADMK share “strong common ground” on political issues – “an indication of a healthy relationship”, Bardhan said.
Jayalalitha, former Tamil Nadu chief minister, echoed the sentiments.
“The political understanding between us (AIADMK) and the Left (the CPI and the Communist Party of India-Marxist) is very good and it is a strong alliance. Alliances with other parties are under discussion,” Jayalalitha said.
“The suffering of innocent Sri Lankan Tamils’ will ease only after the banned LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) lay down arms. The Sri Lankan government’s sincerity in meaningful devolution of powers is also non-negotiable,” Jayalalitha said, explaining her stand on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils caught in the military conflict in the island nation.
The AIADMK-led front would be “equidistant” from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, she said.
Meanwhile, college student and sections of lawyers held hunger strikes and attempted to block road/rail traffic in different areas of the state to demand an end to the strife in Sri Lanka.