Sri Lanka 'happy' Jayalalithaa lost clout in New Delhi

[Indo-guy]

Sri Lanka 'happy' Jayalalithaa lost clout in New Delhi - The Times of India


COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Monday said it is pleased that Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa has lost any bargaining power with the Narendra Modi government because of the majority BJP has on its own in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration was pleased that it could do business with the Centre without Tamil Nadu exercising undue influence, Lanka's media minister and government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.
"A powerful government in Delhi is very good for us. Whatever the decision Centre takes, it will be without any undue influence from states like Tamil Nadu.
"We are very happy that there is a very strong government and Prime Minister (-elect) Modi does not have to depend on any other party for his majority. This means even if Jayalalithaa had won 37 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, she would not be in a position to influence the Centre," Rambukwella told reporters here.
He said Rajapaksa was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi after his spectacular victory and said both leaders had "a lot of similarities" but did not elaborate.
Modi had led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a massive victory in the general elections, with the party alone getting 282 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

 

[illuminatidinesh]

Lol this election is kind of sending jitters to all. If he thinks in this lines then he is a fool, Srilanka needs to brace for some strong measures which they got away from UPA. Lets see.

 

[Screambowl]

Jailalitha is an Indian, a leader and when it comes to decision making she will be asked too.

 

[LURKER]

With 37 MP's in the parliament i dont see how she had lost her clout. No doubt NDA wont need her support to form the govt and consequently to pass Ordinary bills but any policy decision concerning TN will not be taken without taking her into confidence.

 

[Supply&Demand]

NDA needs ADMK support to pass bills in the Rajya Sabha... Srilankans are in for a rude shock

 

[Gessler]

Modi is now the all-powerful PM of India and he has said Jayalalitha's support & advice is welcome. Furthermore the SLs
seem to be forgetting Modi is very nationalistic and I don't think he would personally tolerate anything that is Indian or
of Indian origin to be exploited or abused overseas.

The deal has actually gotten way tougher for the Sri Lankans.

 

[KS]

Stupid lankans..Modi is actually a bigger threat. He is one who believes that India is the natural homeland of HIndus all over the world. And 70% of Lankan Tamils are Hindus

Crimea-Putin ring any bells ?

A word of caution to the lankans - the drama baaz you were doing with the weak Maunmohan wont play well with Modi.

 

[manlion]

 

[Skyline]

Indian PM Modi has to respect TN, otherwise it will lead to disaster for India. TN state is very strange state in India, sometimes I feel Tamils are not belong to India either. seriously! They are different from rest of Indian community.

With Modi either you guys will go top of the region. but if something goes wrong with Modi's leadership India will ended in the deepest level in the region. That's the risk you guys have with Modi. Only the time can answer those question....let's wait and see.....

 

[third eye]

With 37 MP's in the parliament i dont see how she had lost her clout. No doubt NDA wont need her support to form the govt and consequently to pass Ordinary bills but any policy decision concerning TN will not be taken without taking her into confidence.

She has been denied the clout she & Mamata were expecting.

If the results were anything like they were for the last 25 yrs, these two ladies would have been kingmakers demanding their pounds of flesh.

Now, despite their seats they shall twiddle their thumbs. I recall seeing images of Amma with the Parliament in the background. Her zealous supporters were even tinkering with the option of her being PM !

As regards the Higher House, it shall be handled with time .

Indian PM Modi has to respect TN, otherwise it will lead to disaster for India. TN state is very strange state in India, sometimes I feel Tamils are not belong to India either. seriously! They are different from rest of Indian community.

With Modi either you guys will go top of the region. but if something goes wrong with Modi's leadership India will ended in the deepest level in the region. That's the risk you guys have with Modi. Only the time can answer those question....let's wait and see.....

Dont fret.

This is not the first time doubts have come in the minds of outsiders & it wont be the last.

The national institutions are very strong and shall kick in where needed.

Modi is a Nationalist & a Politicial from the most business minded state of India. Development is in the genes of Gujaratis & this was way before Modi was anywhere on the radar.

The nation expects him to perform. Nothing helps like development, this applies to TN as well.

 

[Gibbs]

Indian source..

AIADMK clean sweep may boost India's Lanka policy | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis

The BJP must be relieved that its Tamil Nadu allies and the DMK have been rendered irrelevant by the AIADMK's bagging 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Had the DMK or the BJP's allies, such as Vaiko's MDMK, made gains, the new government would have been hamstrung in dealing with the security challenges posed by the revival of Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka and the refugees flowing into Tamil Nadu.

When it comes to Sri Lankan Tamils, parties in Tamil Nadu tend to be driven by ethnic sentiment, and are heedless of national security concerns and strategic considerations. The problem is compounded with every Dravidian party being involved in the game of one-upmanship: each party is out to prove that it is a superior champion of the Tamil cause. The AIADMK is, relatively, less jingoistic than other Tamil parties.

Although under MGR, the AIADMK was the biggest patron of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), after the debacle of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, the AIADMK has been more mindful of national considerations. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was uncompromisingly opposed to the LTTE while, at the same time, batting for the rights and aspirations of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Despite the compulsions generated by the competitive posturing of other Dravidian parties, the AIADMK has been more in step with New Delhi, especially in steps taken against Sri Lankan Tamil terrorist groups. The smaller Tamil parties, such as the MDMK of Vaiko, the PMK-led by Dr S Ramadoss and the DMDK of actor Vijayakant, which are allied to the BJP, were even more strident than the Dravidian majors, namely, the AIADMK and DMK.

After failing to ally with the AIADMK or DMK, when the BJP had to settle for an alliance with smaller Dravidian parties, it was all too aware that these parties could be troublesome when it came to dealing with Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Tamil separatist outfits. Reconciling the shrill demands of these parties with national security concerns and maintaining friendly relations with an important, strategic neighbour like Sri Lanka would have been problematic.

For any government at the Centre to adopt the hard line advocated by these parties against Sri Lanka and Sinhalese nationals would have alienated the island republic further and deepend discord. The Congress party, particularly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was unduly swayed by the extreme demands of Tamil parties in relation to Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Tamils. Whether it was on the US-sponsored resolutions in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) or not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, Singh was unduly swayed by the DMK and other Dravidian parties.

These parties campaigned for sanctions against Sri Lanka and wanted to isolate the Rajapaksa regime for alleged war crimes in the last stages of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict. Jayalalithaa's government went overboard on more than one occasion by forcing the Centre to expel Sri Lankan defence personnel who were in India for training. There were attacks on Sinhala tourists and Buddhist pilgrims calculated to vitiate India-Sri Lanka relations, including between people of the two countries.

Given this backdrop of Sri Lanka being projected as an "enemy" country by some Tamil parties, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has good reasons to welcome India's election results, particularly the rout of the anti-Sri Lanka parties in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK would have to defer to the new government in its Sri Lanka policy if only to benefit from its sweeping win and avoid a Centre-state conflict.

The election outcome is a positive for India-Sri Lanka relations and the new government would do well to seize the moment.

 

[Gibbs]

Wonder how this will sit with those deep down south of India ??

Modi wants MR and neighbours at swearing in

India's next Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to invite all heads of governments of SAARC countries for his swearing-in ceremony on May 26.

This would include Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi conveyed this wish of his to President Pranab Mukherjee when he met him on Tuesday.

The President seemingly welcomed it as a 'good idea' and has passed this on to the ministry of external affairs which is now examining the proposal, sources in Rastrapati Bhavan said here.

There is no recent precedent for inviting foreign heads of governments when an Indian prime minister has been sworn in, but Modi has a penchant for doing the most unusual.

SAARC nations include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Modi apparently wants to send out through this invitation a "very strong signal of a neighbour-friendly new government,” BJP sources say.

He has been engaged in some tough talk against both Pakistan and Bangladesh on issues of terrorism and illegal migration, but has later said that "election campaign and governance" are two different propositions.

The BJP has indicated that Modi will completely re-craft Indian foreign policy into a meaningful exercise after having denounced the Congress for a 'weak foreign policy'.

BJP leaders say that Modi would make clear his mind on his approach to SAARC heads of governments about the 'future direction of Indian policy' in the region.

"The message will be simple: we want to grow together. Modi will walk an extra mile for friends and do all to assuage their concerns but he will brook no nonsense and if anyone dares a Kargil, God bless the trouble-maker," said a senior leader close to Modi.

By inviting Hasina and Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa, Modi may also signal he will not tolerate 'regional interference' on foreign policy issues, though he would seek to accommodate their views on such issues.

"But he would not tolerate the kind of arm-twisting Manmohan Singh had to put up with," the leader said.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that about 3,000 people would be invited for Modi's oath-taking, which will be held in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace.

Only two other prime ministers - Chandra Shekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee - have been sworn in the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt.

Others have taken oath in the historic Durbar Hall of the palace, which can only accommodate 500 people.

The BJP, along with its allies, has won 336 seats in parliament, a more than comfortable majority.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerji is still undecided whether her MPs will attend the swearing-in ceremony. (Source: bdnews24)

 

[manlion]

 

[GR!FF!N]

@Gibbs

but Vaiko will be there,probably will get some ministry.now thats some shock.plus,AIADMK and DMk has vital numbers in RS which NDA is going to need to pass any bill.

 

[Tshering22]

I don't think it is that easy as Rajapakse is thinking. Jayalalitha enjoys a very strong understanding and trust with Modi ji. Not to mention that if at all she manages to be the leader of opposition by some miracle (Madam G and Pappu are ineligible), he will have to balance himself.

Jayalalitha is not the one raising concerns; it is an MDMK politician.