Akali Dal Threat Looms Large Over Bjp Govt

Although it managed to make it intact to the end of Parliament's extended budget session yesterday, the Vajpayee government still appeared to be mired in crises, owing to various demands of its coalition partners and the galvanisation of the Congress after Sonia Gandhi's instruction to her Mps to be ready to shoulder responsibility any time.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) yesterday threatened to withdraw support to the government if the government included the Sikh-dominated Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttarakhand state.

The Bihar unit of the Samata Party, the mainstay of the party, threatened to withdraw its ministers and review its support if the government appealed against the Calcutta High Court's exoneration of CBI joint director Biwas for seeking army help to arrest against the former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

 

Besides these new developments, the government is already under pressure from the AIADMK to dismiss the DKM government in Tamil Nadu. Some BJP leaders held that Jayalalitha was likely to step up the pressure after yesterday's talks between the states, chaird by the prime minister.

They tried to pooh-pooh the significance of these developments publicly as the constituent partners' compulsions to address their constituencies, but privately admitted that they were worried. BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu admitted that the party had not expected the Akalis' statement.

Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, Union Home Minsiter LK Advani and other senior BJP leaders had spoken to Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal before finalising the government's stand on Uttarakhand. Badal had promised to persuade his supporters who have been demanding the district's exclusion.

The government accepted the Akalis' principal demand that the land ceiling Act in the proposed state should not be applied to Udham Singh Nagar district, there by alienating the hardcore supporters of Uttarakhand.

Some BJP leaders appeared baffled that the threat to withdraw support came from Badal. He clarified that the Union cabinet should rescind its decision to include the district in Uttarakhand. The SAD, which has seven member in the Lok Sabha, however, did not set a deadline to the government.

"If the BJP is determined to include Udham Singh Nagar in Uttaranchal, we will withdraw support to the BJP-led coalition government," Badal said in Chandigarh after a meeting of the party's political affairs committee. He held that Union minister SS Barnala had conveyed his dissent in the cabinet meeting which took the decision.

He also said that the Akalis would seek the support of theAIADMK, the Samata Party and other constituents of the ruling coalition to rally behind their demand. "We have a duty towards our own Punjabi people. The duty to people is more important and friendship (with BJP) is secondary,"' he clarified.

Naidu claimed that there was no threat to the government and said he was confident that the issue would be resolved amicably. The issue was not of immediate concern as the Uttarakhand bill was yet to be introduce in parliament.

The bill is to be first passed by the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, he pointed out.