Citizens feel there is no government at the Centre: Jaya

Giving the thumbs down to the three-year-old United Progressive Alliance government, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the country was in a "state of drift" and the situation was "almost" as if there was no government at the Centre.

"The average citizen feels that there is no government at the Centre. The country is in a state of drift," the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief told reporters when asked to rate the UPA's performance.

Jayalalithaa's remarks come a day after the Congress-led UPA coalition celebrated three years in office.

Asked if Lok Sabha polls would be held ahead of the 2014 schedule, Jayalalithaa said she did not want to speculate on the issue.

To a question on whether she would take up with the Bharatiya Janata Party the candidature of P A Sangma for the President's post, she said she had spoken to political parties "whom I know," apparently referring to the telephonic conversation she had on Sunday with different leaders, including BJP's L K Advani, Communist Party of India – Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat and Telugu Desam Party chief M Chandrababu Naidu.

Asked whether she got any assurance from them, she said, "I have made a request to certain political parties and leaders whom I know well -- to give their support to Sangma in the Presidential election. I prefer to wait and watch. I have no further comments to make on the matter."

Jayalalithaa and her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik have strongly pitched for Sangma's candidature.

But Sangma's own party Nationalist Congress Party has rebuffed his moves, while major political parties have shown no enthusiasm over his bid.