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| Counting the cost as the countdown begins |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi May 16, 2009, 00:33 IST |
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Smaller political parties have begun listing the price for their support.
From rice to tax breaks for the state to choice of ministerships... political parties began listing the price for their support, as anxiety levels began rising ahead of the counting of votes for the 15th general elections.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Jayalalithaa Jayaram and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were the two leaders who seemed to wear the most satisfied expressions, knowing the value of the votes of their parties.
 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Jayalalithaa said, ‘Many are talking to me’ |
 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wants excise concessions, access to funds and relaxed terms for grants |
In 2004, AIADMK's state rival, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), had swept the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections that followed in 2006. But what is in place in Tamil Nadu is a tenuous alliance in which the 95-member DMK is shored up by the 35-member Congress. All other DMK allies have long since decamped to the other side. If the Congress also lets the DMK go, the government will fall. If the Congress supports Jayalalithaa, she can become chief minister without another election.
For the record Jayalalithaa said the central government must drop rice packets in North Sri Lanka as humanitarian relief. Officially, both the Congress and Jayalalithaa denied any contact with each other although party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad was said to be in touch.
"Congress does not use and throw its allies. We had a difference of opinion with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) over the number of seats allotted to our party but they continued to be ministers and continue to be part of the United Progressive Alliance," Congress Spokesman Jayanti Natarajan said. But the DMK’s name was not on her list of allies.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also held telephonic parlays with Jayalalithaa on behalf of the BJP. However, since the BJP has no presence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, it is of limited utility to the AIADMK.
Leaders in the Left parties-led Third Front have their suspicions about Jayalalithaa and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu spoke to her. All Jayalalithaa would say was: “Many are talking to me”. Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar set off speculation with his remarks that his party would support any force that backed special state status to Bihar. In concrete terms this means excise concessions, access to funds and relaxed terms for grants to the state government.
This was interpreted to mean Kumar was ready to switch sides from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to the UPA. This was a non-starter, however, as BJP leader L K Advani has already publicly offered special status to Bihar while campaigning in the state.
A late-night meeting on Thursday between SP leader Amar Singh and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee also led to reports that ministerships had been discussed. However, Singh said that until the relative strength of parties was known, discussion on ministries was not possible. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said the RJD, LJP and he would meet CPI M leader Prakash Karat on 17 May to discuss the possibilities arising out of the results.
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