President to hold talks with UF, Congress; decision on Saturday
Rajesh Ramachandran in New Delhi
President Kocheril Raman Narayanan will hold consultations with the Congress and United Front, following the Bharatiya Janata Party's failure to provide documentary proof that it enjoys majority support in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP could not muster the required numbers after its alliance partner, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, refused to extend written support. AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha was reportedly unhappy that her demands have not been conceded by the saffron party.
Even the ruling Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh did not change its stand.
As a result, BJP prime ministerial candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee could submit documentary proof of the support of 240 MPs, falling short of the magic figure by 30 MPs.
Vajpayee was told that the President's decision would be conveyed to him on Saturday.
Soon after the meeting, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said, ''While the process of consultations with the BJP will continue, the President will also hold discussions with other political formations like the Congress and the United Front."
The President will meet Congress president Sitaram Kesri, United Front chairman and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan on Friday between 1700 and 1900 hours.
Thus the President has given the Congress and the UF an opportunity to reach some understanding within two days, failing which he may invite Vajpayee to form the government. The BJP is confident of this.
"There is every possibility that we will be given a chance to prove our strength on the floor of the House. As there is no alternative in sight, the President will have to invite us to form a government sooner or later," BJP vice-president Sunder Singh Bhandari told Rediff On The NeT.
But how the party proposes to win over the AIADMK is still not clear.
Addressing the media after his meeting with Narayanan, Vajpayee said Jayalalitha was holding back the letters because of differences over Cabinet berths. ''Her party will not join the ministry,'' he said. ''She is demanding berths for some other parties.''
Though Vajpayee refused to elaborate, Rediff On The NeT learns that Jayalalitha has demanded that Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy be made the finance minster and Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress chief Vazhapadi Ramamurthy the law minister.
Jayalalitha, however, denied this at a press conference in Madras on Friday evening. She denied that she had demanded Cabinet berths for her allies or the dismissal of the DMK government in the state in exchange for the letters of support.
However, sources close to Dr Swamy said though the BJP is willing to accommodate Ramamurthy as a minister of state, the party -- the RSS elements especially -- do not want Dr Swamy to be given any ministerial post. Dr Swamy broke away from the RSS and the Jan Sangh after the Emergency.
BJP leaders believe Dr Swamy has manipulated the whole affair. "After all, she is an actress,'' a senior BJP leader told Rediff On The NeT. ''She cannot act without a script. This time her script is being written by Swamy."
"He has told her that if he does not get the finance ministry all the cases against her cannot be scuttled. And unless Swamy gets the finance ministry, P Chidambaram and Murasoli Maran cannot be fixed. She is so convinced about this that she does not even listen to us. In fact, she has remained elusive, holed up in some farm house near Madras without any means of communication.''
Talking to reporters after his meeting with the President, Vajpayee was defiant, saying, "I am not going to succumb to pressure from anyone."
Admitting that he is in the race for the finance minister's portfolio, Dr Swamy told the TVI television channel, ''Tamil Nadu is an important state, and has been given important portfolios. I do not know what objection is there to giving the state two important ministries. Moreover, I have the right qualifications for the job -- I am a professor of economics from one of the world's most famous universities (Harvard).''
Meanwhile, hectic parleys are on in the UF camp. Surjeet met Kesri today and tried to reach an agreement.
Surjeet also contacted other UF leaders, asking them to rush to Delhi at the earliest. The CPI-M leader's communication went out even before the President invited the Congress and UF leaders for talks.
The Marxist leader appears confident of roping in even Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, according to a close aide of former Union defence minister Sharad Pawar.
Speculation is rife in Delhi that Naidu may be offered the prime ministership.
The developments have forced the Congress to play it safe -- it has postponed the Congress Parliamentary Party leadership election from Saturday to Monday. The official 'reason' is the ''inconvenience caused to the members to reach Delhi during the Holi festival''.
The real reason seems to be the fluid political situation -- the party's choice for the post would depend on whether it is sitting in the Treasury or Opposition benches.
Former Union minister Rajesh Pilot told Rediff On The NeT that electing an Opposition leader and a prime
ministerial candidate are two different things altogether.
What the Congress leader is implying is that Pawar will be sidelined if the party forms a government.
But Pawar is leaving no stone unturned, even though he maintains that the Congress's next move will depend on the BJP.
Elections '98
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