New Delhi, July 2 :    New Delhi, July 2:  Not so long ago, Left leaders were gushing with friendliness towards ADMK chief Jayalalitha, a prospective alliance partner in People's Front. But the last two days' worried frowns have replaced the smiles. The Left leadership is caught in a cleft over the sordid developments in Tamil Nadu. 'Defending' Jayalalitha against corruption charges was apparently easier than defending her latest fiat which led to the roughing up of senior DMK leaders in Tamil Nadu. 'Our allies may just sink us,'' said a Left leader. 'There is absolutely no defence for the manner in which former DMK chief minister M. Karunanidhi and Union ministers Murasoli Maran and T.R. Baalu were arrested.'' However, this does not mean that Jayalalitha and her party have lost all attraction as a potential partner for the Left-led People's Front. The Left is not having to look very hard for 'political reasons' that would require them to come to the succour of Jayalalitha against an 'inimical'' Centre. 'The CPI warns the Vajpayee government not to consider using Article 356 or any other provision for interfering in Tamil Nadu,'' says a CPI statement. Yesterday, the Left parties had shot off a statement condemning the 'undemocratic' and 'unwarranted'' recall of Tamil Nadu Governor Fathima Beevi. Today, they are more aggressive against the NDA government and have put its leader George Fernandes in its direct line of fire. 'Who is George Fernandes to intervene in Tamil Nadu?'' asks CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan. The Left has not had much luck with its partners in the south. During the days of the United Front government, Karunanidhi's DMK and Chandrababu Naidu's Desam were pillars of the federal front. The first pillar collapsed when the Desam quit the front and moved over to the NDA. Later, it was the DMK which fell foul with the Left and switched over to the NDA. Like with Naidu, the Left's relations with the DMK and Karunanidhi have.only worsened since the time they parted ways. The pendulum of alliances for the Left in Tamil Nadu has swung from one end to the other from the DMK to the ADMK. The entire political strategy of the third front led by the Left is: it should have an alliance partner against the BJP and the NDA in as many states as possible.