Chennai, March 8 (IANS) AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha turned to poetry to urge for women’s empowerment in her message on International Women’s Day Saturday. Like her archrival M. Karaunanidhi of the DMK, who writes a poem whenever he wants something to be stressed upon, the AIADMK leader in her Women’s Day message wrote: “This is an age when suppressed womanhood has risen and started creating history.”

“The world has arrived at the truth that women can excel in every field,” Jayalalitha, three times chief minister of Tamil Nadu, said.

“Still there are women mired in ignorance and oppression.

“This should change… Let this Women’s Day be an occasion to take a resolve…

“Let poet Bharati’s call for women’s empowerment. ‘Let us uplift women’ be the universal law…”

Jayalalitha visited her old dance teacher Sarasa, educationist Y.G. Parthasarathi, columnist Cho Ramaswamy and yesteryears actor M.N. Nambiar.

At Nambiar’s home, Jayalalitha also met the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh, again giving rise to speculation that she is actively looking at the possibility of an alliance with the BJP for the 2009 parliamentary election. Sukumaran Nambiar, state BJP leader, was present.