As the election to the Indian Parliament enters its final phase, one question refuses to fade away despite repeated denials: Is J. Jayalalitha, the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), one of the prime ministerial candidates, in the event of a fractured mandate? Jayalalitha herself says no.But not many are convinced that she will not throw her hat in the ring, when the opportunity presents. Whatever be the case today, at 61, the film-actor-turned-politician is on the threshold of probably the most important phase of her political career. She is seen variedly as a wannabe prime minister, a master manipulator, and possibly the kingmaker after the election results are out.

Excerpts from an interview:

You have denied it, but the question refuses to die, especially as some of your allies have made it clear that they will propose your name for prime ministership of a government headed by the Third Front after the election results are announced. Are you willing to say categorically that you are not in the contention?

I have already stated categorically that I do not have any prime ministerial ambition. And in any case, it is too early in the day to talk about prime ministership. For the moment, I am not thinking about anything except ensuring that the alliance led by the AIADMK sweeps the elections in Tamil Nadu. All other issues, whether it is government formation, selection of prime ministerial candidate or even realignments, will come to the fore only on May 16 (the day election results are to be announced).

As for my name being proposed by some allies, what I say is that it is their prerogative. Whether I accept it or not is another matter.

Like I have said earlier, all these issues will be decided by consensus among the leaders of the parties constituting the Third Front.

But you yourself endorsed the name of Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar for the prime minister’s post, even though he is still an ally of the Congress party, at least in Maharashtra.

Let me make one thing clear. I have been misinterpreted on this issue. I never proposed Sharad Pawar’s name. I was specifically asked by a TV interviewer my views on people like (Bahujan Samaj Party leader) Mayawati and Pawar as prime ministerial candidates. I only said that Pawar is a senior and mature politician, with all the qualifications to become prime minister. That is a statement I stand by today also. But that does not necessarily mean that I proposed Pawar’s name or that I am backing his claim to prime ministership. The bottom-line is, as I have already said, everything will be settled after May 16. Wait till then.

There have been claims that both Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have channels of communication open with you for a possible post-poll realignment. Of course, the Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and even Rahul Gandhi have gone overboard denying that. But, if there has to be any realignment, who will you prefer — BJP or Congress?

Why do all you media people assume that all political parties are ready to play some change-your-partner game after elections? Yes, I do admit that there are chances of some parties realigning themselves in the post-poll scenario, but AIADMK is not one of them. We have made our position clear. We are going to form a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the center. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Congress has been a curse on India. The country needs to be freed from the wrong policies, misgovernance and corruption of Congress and its UPA partners, especially the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). So there is no question of us supporting the Congress. Like some of our left party colleagues have stated, it is for the Congress to support our formation or not. As far as the BJP is concerned, let me say that there have been no overtures and naturally no responses.

A peculiar aspect of this election has been the fact that in many states including Tamil Nadu, local issues rather than national issues have dominated the campaigning. Does it show a lack of national perspective?

Yes. I do admit that to some extent local issues have dominated the elections this time. But all major parties have focused on the primary issues like terrorism, national security and economic crisis. One of the main reasons that local issues are also dominant in Tamil Nadu is because the ruling party here, DMK, is also a key partner in the UPA government at the center. Moreover, DMK is the senior partner in that alliance, with the Congress playing a not so significant second fiddle. So it is but natural that the performance of DMK should also be under the scanner.

Also unique for Tamil Nadu is the fact that a foreign policy issue has become a major election issue — I mean the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Your own stand on this has been contradictory. You were in the past stridently opposed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the creation of a Tamil state of Eelam. But now you are supporting the creation of Eelam and even advocating military intervention by India to achieve Eelam. Why this U-turn?

First of all, there is no U-turn. Our stand vis-à-vis the LTTE remains unchanged. As far as we are concerned, LTTE is still a terrorist organization. Our concern has been only with the innocent Tamil civilians who were being killed in the offensive by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and also by the LTTE.

On the issue of Eelam, let me clarify that I am not demanding that Eelam be created tomorrow. What I have said — you will realize it if my speeches had been published in full by the media — was merely this. Our first demand is that there should an end to the killing of innocent Tamil civilians, and that there should be a political solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka. However, if the Sinhala majority government in Lanka does come out with a devolution package that would ensure life of dignity, peace and equal status to the Tamils, then a separate state of Eelam is the only solution. And it is in this context that I said that if necessary there should be a military intervention as there was in the case of Bangladesh.