Kanyakumari (TN): A day after Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani had a dinner meeting with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo J Jayalalithaa to clinch a poll pact, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Feb 2, 2004) shared a platform with her and said his party valued "partnership" with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

"We value our partnership with Jayalalithaa. Under her leadership, Tamil Nadu has made massive strides in socio-economic development," he said laying the foundation stone of the four-lane North-South highway corridor to connect Kanyakumari with Jammu and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister said he was happy that Jayalalithaa readily agreed to join this special occasion. She has "worked hard for the development of Tamil Nadu", he said.

Taking forward Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s efforts to stitch up a viable alliance with ruling AIADMK for Lok Sabha polls, Advani last night had a dinner meeting with Jayalalithaa in Chennai after which he said he did not see any problem in working out a seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties.

During the two-hour meeting, Advani and Jayalalithaa are understood to have discussed fine-tuning the alliance in the State.