WHILE it is known that Sasikala Nat-arajan and Subramanian Swamy are confidants of Jayalalitha, a new name doing the rounds in Chennai is: former president R. Venkataraman. It is believed that the former president provides her with both political inputs as well as tactical strategies. According to insiders, Jayalalithas decision to align with the BJP was backed by Venkataraman. This new nexus is not hard to explain. Both share a dislike for Moopanar and Karunanidhi. In fact, Venkataraman, as president, was considered instrumental in getting the Karunanidhi government dismissed in 1991.