Accorinding to Jayalalithaa, the central government should strive for a broad consensus on issues like the compensation period and methodology, revenue neutral rates, floor rates with bands, commodities to be excluded from GST and clarity on dual administrative control, so that the genuine apprehensions of states regarding loss of fiscal autonomy and permanent revenue loss are allayed. Amid speculations of a possible AIADMK-BJP tie-up, Jayalalithaa invited Modi for lunch at her Poes Garden residence.
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Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday handed over appointment orders to the relatives of 20 woodcutters, who were gunned down by the special task force of the Andhra Pradesh police in the Seshachalam forest range on April 7.
Sources said Captian Vijayakanth, now leading an anti-liquor protest, had sought an appointment with the prime minister, which was not forthcoming.
During their discussions, the chief minister reportedly took up the issues concerning Tamil Nadu, including inter-state river disputes with Karnataka and Kerala, and presented a memorandum.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at launch of First National Handloom Day.
The Chief Minister asked the Government of India to take active steps to abrogate the 1974 and 1976 agreements and retrieve Katchatheevu and restore the traditional fishing rights of the fishermen of Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK has 11 members in Rajya Sabha, and in Lok Sabha it is the third largest party with 37 members.
Tamil Nadu politics, dominated by alliance chemistry on the ground level and the element of rivalry between the two Dravidian majors – AIADMK and the DMK – will see crystallisation of alliances only few months before the elections due in May 2016. Earlier, the prime minister had congratulated Jayalalithaa on her acquittal in a corruption case. The fishermen of Tamil Nadu have since been deprived of their fishing rights around Katchatheevu, she said.
PM Modi and Ms. Jayalalithaa have always been openly supportive of each other.
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Recently BJP national president Amit Shah visited Tamil Nadu to take stock of the party’s growth in the state. “But most likely, there may be an alliance, and it will be announced only after Pongal”, a senior AIADMK leader said. “Jayalalithaa has also been soft on the railways and general budgets even though Tamil Nadu did not benefit from any major scheme”.
