File photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
They traded barbs during the general election, but now, as they both bask in huge victories, it is time for bonhomie again between Narendra Modi and J Jayalalithaa.
Mr Modi, prime minster to be, called up the Tamil Nadu chief minister yesterday and greeted her on her winning 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in her state.
He thanked Ms Jayalalithaa for her letter on Friday congratulating him for his party's "magnificent win" in the elections and also assured her of his government's "absolute cooperation" with Tamil Nadu.
"Selvi (Ms) J Jayalalithaa, wished him a very successful tenure as Prime Minister of India. The Hon'ble Prime Minister-designate assured the Hon'ble Chief Minister that there will be absolute cooperation between the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu," a state government release said.
All speculation on whether Ms Jayalalithaa would offer support to Mr Modi to form government at the Centre was put to rest on Friday with his BJP getting 282 seats, enough to form the government on its own. Along with its per-election allies in the NDA, the party has 336 seats.
But Ms Jayalalithaa's AIADMK will be the third largest party in the Lok Sabha. It has, in fact, only seven seats less than the Congress' 44.
The BJP needs all the goodwill and support it can garner to push legislation through the Upper House or Rajya Sabha, where it does not enjoy the brute strength that it has in the lower house. The BJP has 46 MPs in the 250-member Rajya Sabha. It allies in the NDA have another 19. It will need at least 125 for a simple majority.
The Congress has 68 Rajya Sabha members.
Rajya Sabha elections were held earlier this year and the next round will be held only in 2016.
BJP president Rajnath Singh too called up Ms Jayalalithaa and wished her for the AIADMK's "grand win".