Check this out - the index finger of the pointing hand at the bottom of the page almost looked like the middle finger shown to Sania! LOL.
indian-express.com
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Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Sonia can wait, Jaya is still on the road
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
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Chennai, Aug 24: If ``milling crowds' prevented Jayalalitha from meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Villupuram two days ago, there were no such excuses today. When Sonia Gandhi came to Chennai, Jayalalitha did not make a 10-km journey to meet her and instead sent two emissaries with a bouquet and a shawl.
Jayalalitha made it clear to the world today that she was not inclined to meet Sonia at all.
The AICC president was in Chennai for a 10-minute halt on the way to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh to address election meetings there. Jayalalitha had the opportunity of personally meeting Sonia and ironing out the problems caused by the Villupuram fiasco. However, she chose to keep away and instead deputed two party leaders Sedappatti Muthiah and Sathiamoorthy to meet her on her behalf.
Sonia's private aircraft landed at Meenambakkam airport barely 10 kms away from Jayalalitha's Poes Garden residence.
Chennai's political circles are looking at another possible reason for the Villupuram and Chennaiboycott by Jayalalitha. Jaya was unhappy over the way Sonia kept her waiting in New Delhi for three days for an appointment at the height of the political crisis a few months ago. Jayalalitha was sore and angry and is merely giving a dose of the same medicine to Sonia, according to sources. Neither the TNCC nor the AIADMK office-bearers indicated today that a date for a joint meeting by Sonia and Jayalalitha had been fixed. The ice remains to be broken.
Meanwhile, Jayalalitha today filed a criminal complaint for defamation against expelled MLA R Tamaraikani before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (EO-I), Egmore, K Balasubramanian. Tamaraikani had reportedly stated, after being expelled from the party on August 18 for anti-party activities, to a section of the press that Jayalalitha and her close aide N Sasikala had fixed an amount for giving seat to the party members for the LS polls.
Alliance intact: Sonia
Congress president Sonia Gandhi today declared that the Congress-AIADMKalliance was intact. Sonia, who transitted through Chennai airport from her electioneering in Andhra Pradesh, told reporters, ``there is no confusion about it. The alliance is there.'
TNCC president Tindivanam K Ramamurthy and Sedapatti Muthiah said the alliance was intact and there was no confusion in the minds of Congress and AIADMK supporters.
Copyright ¸ 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. |
