Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa hoped that the BJP Government at the Centre “would be friendly” towards the State.

“I wish the new Government and the Prime Minister well,” she said.

Interacting with media persons as the election results started showing clear trends, she said the ‘massive’ victory for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was “historic, unparalleled and unprecedented. We achieved this massive victory on our own without any partners.” By winning 37 seats out of the total 39, the AIADMK has become the third largest political party after the Bharatiya Janatha Party and the Indian National Congress. “We will function as a responsible political party,” said Jayalalithaa, General Secretary, AIADMK.

To a query whether she will support the new Government at the Centre, she said, the election outcome does not warrant the AIADMK supporting the NDA-led Government. The AIADMK lost in two constituencies. In Kanyakumari, its candidate lost to BJP’s State President Pon Radhakrishnan and in Dharmapuri the party’s candidate lost to Anbumani Ramdoss of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).

The party was hoping to win at least five seats along with its allies but had to settle for only two said M Chakravarthy, Vice-President, BJP (Tamil Nadu). “The delay in announcing the alliance cost us dearly,” he said. The alliance included the PMK, actor Vijaykanth’s DMDK and the MDMK run by Vaiko.

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