Bharatiya Janata Party chief M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday virtually ruled out continuation of the party's alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu saying the tie-up was confined to the Lok Sabha polls.
"The alliance was formed for the elections...The polls are over. You understand better," he told reporters here when asked whether the tie-up with J Jayalalithaa's party would continue in the state.
The question of alliance would be decided at the time of elections. "This is the stand of all political parties," Naidu said.
Asked whether the BJP-AIADMK combine lost in the state because of unpopular measures brought in by Jayalalithaa government, he said it was a collective decision to go in for alliance, which was taken by the party and 'everyone should take the people's verdict in their stride'.
To another question, he said if the Jayalalithaa government had rolled back some of its measures before the polls, it would have helped the alliance. "We will support all good things and oppose bad things."
The BJP had taken the defeat in its stride and would sit in the opposition and function as a constructive opposition, he said.
Asked if he had discussed the electoral performance with Jayalalithaa, he replied in the negative and said if required he would talk with her.
However, Nadia said there was no need for Jayalalithaa to step down as demanded by opposition parties. "There is no rule that a party in the state should resign if it was drubbed in the parliamentary elections."
Hitting out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, Naidu said it was held together by people 'hankering' for power and was dependent on the Left parties, which held a
'veto power'.
"The Manmohan Singh government has seven unhealthy birthmarks," he said, indirectly referring to the parties in the UPA, the portfolio-centric issue involving DMK and allocation of portfolios to even 'tainted' ministers.
Listing out the 'unhealthy birthmarks', he said the prime minister himself had been 'selected and not elected'.
Regretting the moves to repeal POTA, Naidu said it was being done under the compulsions of 'vote bank politics'. Terrorism still loomed large over the country, he said, referring to the killing of 30 BSF jawans and their family members in Jammu and Kashmir recently.
He said if some states misused POTA, the remedy lay in incorporating safeguards.