Chennai, July 19: Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa tonight said the Union defence minister George Fernandes, who sought a meeting with her, had cancelled it as he was suddenly called to Delhi by the Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. She told reporters that "I received a message in the morning that the defence minister would like to meet me this evening. I agreed to meet at 4 pm. at the secretariat. Then I received another message he was suddenly called back to Delhi by the Prime Minister and is unable to come".

She said the state government last night received a message that Fernandes was going to visit Vellore prison (to meet Vaiko). Necessary arrangements were made. On the Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav`s criticism on the arrest of Vaiko, she said "I am afraid he is not well informed about the situation in Tamil Nadu. He does not know about the problems Tamil Nadu faced due to terrorism by LTTE. He is unaware of the ground situation in Tamil Nadu", she said.

On the PMK`s demand for the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu, she said this was a "dangerous" proposal mooted by PMK founder Dr S Ramdoss. "I have very strong views on this subject", she said adding that all right thinking people should condemn it. Bureau Report