Why did Jayalalithaa decide to free Rajiv Gandhi assassins?

Jayalalithaa already has the larger pan-India picture in view.

This is why she has shaken hands with the CPI and the CPI-M despite their limited base in Tamil Nadu. The aim is to build bridges with those who are part of a larger so-called Third Front that could play a major role if the BJP wins less than 200 Lok Sabha seats despite a widely anticipated Congress decimation.

The Sri Lankan issue is an emotive factor in Tamil Nadu. But when it comes to elections, political party after party have realized to their dismay that it does not really fetch votes.

Indeed, the average person in Tamil Nadu firmly turned his back to the now vanquished LTTE once it took on the Indian Army in Sri Lanka in 1987-90 and, more so, after a Tamil Tiger woman suicide bomber blew up Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally near Chennai in May 1991.

Jayalalithaa knows this. She does know her politics well.