Upper cut

Left leaders are delighted to see Jayalalithaa back in power in Tamil Nadu, but D Raja, CPI leader and Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu, is worried. That’s because his term in the upper house is coming to an end next year and Jayalalithaa has already indicated that she doesn’t want to see him there any longer. Her choice is the state secretary of the CPI, R Pandiyan. Since the CPI has to depend entirely on the AIADMK’s support to retain the Rajya Sabha berth, it was hardly surprising that Raja rushed to greet Jayalalithaa on Monday during her first visit to the capital after becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time. The courtesy meeting, however, didn’t last long.