By IANS,
New Delhi/Chennai : Congress president Sonia Gandhi telephoned AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa to congratulate her on her party’s massive victory in the Tamil Nadu assembly polls, and invited her for “discussions over tea”, party sources said Sunday.
Confirming the call, Jayalalithaa told reporters in Chennai that she received a call from Gandhi.
“I received a call from Sonia Gandhi, she congratulated me on the victory,” Jayalalithaa told reporters after meeting Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala to stake claim to form the government.
Congress sources told IANS that Gandhi called up the AIADMK chief Saturday evening and invited her to tea.
Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan described the party chief’s telephonic talk with Jayalalithaa as only a courtesy call.
“Our party president congratulated Jayalalithaa, it is a courtesy that is extended in a democracy to a leader who has led her party to victory,” Natarajan said.
The AIADMK-led front won 203 of the 234-member assembly seats, while the DMK-Congress alliance managed just 31. Jayalalithaa was unanimously elected as leader of AIADMK legislature party and will be sworn in as chief minister Monday.
The AIADMK has nine Lok Sabha MPs.
AIADMK sources indicated that an alliance with the Congress could be likely, but not soon.
A senior AIADMK leader told IANS on condition of anonymity that an alliance with Congress may be formed, but the present priority was forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
“There is 60 percent chance that AIADMK would join the (UPA) alliance. But government formation is more important for us for now,” the leader said.