Sack Raja, dump DMK, will give you numbers in LS, Jaya tells Congress- Nov 12, 2010-

Sack Raja, dump DMK, will give you numbers in LS, Jaya tells Congress

TNN, Nov 12, 2010, 01.48am IST

CHENNAI: AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced she would back Congress at the Centre if the party sacked telecom minister, a member of her rival party DMK.

"If the Congress can summon the political will to take action against Raja, I can show the way so that the coalition does not collapse and the nation does not have to face another mid-term poll," she said in an interview to Times Now at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai.

Expressing confidence that she could match the number of DMK MPs in the Lok Sabha by offering support of her nine MPs besides those of ''other friendly parties'', Jayalalithaa said, ''If the Congress wishes to avoid going in for a mid-term poll, the numbers have to be made up. There are other like-minded leaders I have spoken to. We have nine MPs in the Lok Sabha, and between them and other friendly parties, we have enough MPs to make up the 18 (that the DMK has) with one or two to spare,'' she said.

Congress also got a promise of support from the three Janata Dal(S) MPs if the need arose. Former Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, however, told TOI no Congress leader had approached them for help.