AIADMK leaders are not after power: Jayakumar post BJP snub

Jayakumar, who was on his way to Delhi to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for the second term, while addressing reporters, said, “Like Aringar Anna said, positions are secondary for us and we have never demanded any positions with anyone but whether to be part of the Union government or not would be decided by party convenors.”

Jayakumar is among the host of leaders from the state participating in the swearing-in ceremony. There were rumours that AIADMK was demanding two Ministerial berths in Modi cabinet and so large number of party leaders had gone to Delhi.

When asked whether AIADMK demanded two Ministerial berths, Jayakumar replied that the questioned is based on assumptions and it is not an authenticated news. He also said that any decision on number of ministries will be decided only by the party.

Stalin ‘opportunistic’

When asked about DMK president MK Stalin participating in the swearing-in ceremony of YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy, though he supported Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu, Jayakumar replied that the incident is another example to show that Stalin is opportunistic. “Before elections, Stalin relied on Chandrababu Naidu but after the election results were not in the favour of Chandrababu Naidu, he has now shifted his camp to Jagan. Though it (Stalin attending Jagan’s ceremony, despite having cordial relationship with Naidu) can be seen as a broad-minded attitude, to us Stalin refusing to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Modi and participating in the swearing-in ceremony of Jaganmohan Reddy is purely opportunistic,” said Jayakumar.

When asked how can DMK participate when they were not invited for the swearing-in ceremony of Modi, Jayakumar replied that he is speaking based on media reports and information on invitation should be asked only to BJP leaders and not to him.