A good politician never rules out anything: Jaya

Chennai: AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday denied she had prime ministerial ambitions, and asserted that the alliance led by her would sweep Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha seats.

Asked if she had a desire to be the prime minister, Jayalalithaa said, "I do not have any personal ambition. All I want is that our country should prosper and take its rightful place as a global superpower."

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister said she was confident the AIADMK-led alliance would sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. In 2004, the AIADMK did not win even a single Lok Sabha seat.

The AIADMK alliance includes the PMK, Vaiko's MDMK, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Asserting that "a good politician never rules out anything", she insisted that her aim was to work for a government not led by either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"It is premature to talk of post-poll alliances now. What we have been working towards is a dispensation at the Centre which is non-BJP led and non-Congress led.

"As such it would stand to reason after the results are out, we will engage in a discussion with the Left parties and our electoral allies, the PMK and MDMK, and other liked-minded parties."

Jayalalithaa was asked if she was in touch with the BJP, a claim she has already denied.

"As of now our party is in alliance with the Left parties, with PMK and MDMK. So there is no question of conducting any talks with any party on a post-poll alliance... I think we are very clear."

The AIADMK chief hit out at both the Central and Tamil Nadu governments for not doing enough to stop the war in Sri Lanka.

"The Central government and the (Tamil Nadu) government have failed miserably in trying to solve the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka. The central and state governments have done nothing to stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

"It is a fact that the people of Tamil Nadu are greatly exercised over what they perceive as injustice being meted out to their brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka.

"There is a very strong feeling that if the DMK government had wished, it could have brought pressure to bear on the central government to stop the war in Sri Lanka."

Jayalalithaa made light of MDMK leader Vaiko's militant outburst against India's Sri Lanka policy in which he warned that "rivers of blood" would flow in Tamil Nadu if Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran suffered any harm.

"What Vaiko has said is nothing new as far as he is concerned. He has been making these statements for so many years.

"The AIADMK is firmly committed to upholding the sovereignty and safeguarding the integrity of India. We will not tolerate or condone any talk of secession. So that is dangerous talk."