Jaya Awaiting Nod From The Congress, Feels Bjp

Some BJP leaders yesterday privately held that AIADMK chief J Jayalaitha would withdraw support to the five-month old Vajpayee government immediately after getting a green signal form the Congress high command. This could come anytime now, they said.

However, they also claimed that AIADMK's withdrawal would not lead to the government's fall as the PMK, the MDMK and the TRC, which together have eight Lok Sabha members, were likely to part ways with the AIADMK to save the government. The AIADMK has 16 Lok Sabha members in the 26-member front.

These leaders were analysing the situation after Jayalalitha yesterday charged that some persons very close to the Prime Minister took "hefty bribes" to transfer Bezboruah from the enforcement directorate. This indicated she was seriously contemplating to withdraw her party's support.

PMK chief Ramdoss, MDMK chief Vaicko and TRC chief Ramamurthy had alleged that the Congress was trying to divide the AIADMK front, a BJP leader pointed out, adding that this could ensure survival of the government.

Some BJP leaders were surprised at Jayalalitha's recent allegation as it came after Union defence minister George Fernandes's mission to Chennai, after which all of them concluded that the crisis was almost over. On the issue of the transfers, one BJP leader said that Jayalalitha's private demands were different from her public demands.

Meanwhile, BJP vice-president K L Sharma challenged opposition parties to come out with a common minimum programme instead of hatching conspiracies to destabilise the government. "They can not drag the country to mid-term polls without offering any alternative programme," Sharma said in Hyderabad. He said he was not aware that the Congress had opened a channel of communication with the AIADMK, but admitted that the crisis to the government was not over yet.

However, he said he was confident of managing it. He ruled out further acceleration of the crisis.

Sharma's statement came prior to Jayalalitha's recent allegation and the demand that the transfer of Bezboruah and 17 other officials, including former revenue secretary N K Singh, be cancelled forthwith.

Jayalalitha, who is allegedly behind the transfer of key officials, said attempts were being made to blame her for the transfers. She said she was being made a "scapegoat to appease some quarters who are anxious to cover some vested interests, and who are the real culprits behind this whole farcical exercise."