Chennai:
AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is likely to keep away from the Modi swearing-in ceremony on May 26 in view of his invite to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa despite objections from Tamil parties.
Jayalalithaa, who has opposed participation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Sunday kept up the suspense on Sunday even while all reports said she may boycott it.
Till late in the evening there was no official statement from the government or the ruling AIADMK on either her participation or whether she would depute any representative. As per current indications, the AIADMK may not send a representative as it would be embarrassing to be seen in Rajapaksa's company.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Kerala CM Oommen Chandy also seemed to have turned down the invites.
Jayalalithaa had recently said it was “unfortunate” that Modi had invited Rajapaksa, adding that the “ill-advised” move could have been avoided as it amounted to “rubbing salt into the wounds of the already deeply injured Tamil psyche.” She referred to the various resolutions passed in the state Assembly demanding an economic embargo on Sri Lanka among others over the alleged war crimes by the island nation’s Army under the Rajapaksa Government against Tamils during the final stages of “civil war”.
In the past, Jayalalithaa and Modi had attended the swearing-in of each other as Chief Minister.
Almost all the Tamil parties have condemned Modi's move to invite Rajapaksa. DMK president M Karunanidhi criticised the move as also BJP’s allies MDMK, led by Vaiko, PMK and DMDK.
Vaiko has also announced a black-flag demonstration in New Delhi and Chennai against the invite to Rajapaksa on May 26.
