A committee to checkmate Jaya

NEW DELHI, April 21: Shaken by AIADMK chief Jayalalitha's sudden demands and resultant damage to the month-long Bharatiya Janata Party-led G...

NEW DELHI, April 21: Shaken by AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s sudden demands and resultant damage to the month-long Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government and the coalition, a coordination committee on the lines of the United Front is being set up at the Centre.

The committee will meet on April 26 and 27, BJP leader and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh said today. Like the steering committee of the United Front government, the coordination committee of the present government will have as its members, leaders of all the parties in the alliance. It differs from the UF steering committee in that it will be chaired by the Prime Minister himself.

The formation of the committee was long over-due. After an informal meeting of the alliance leaders finalised the national agenda for governance, before Vajpayee was sworn in, the BJP had promised a formal body to ensure the smooth functioning of the Government. But it never got down to setting it up till last week’s crisis underlined the need forone.

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The AIADMK, which has been the main cause of the storms rocking the month-old Vajpayee Government, was non-committal about the formation of the committee. Party leader and Law Minister Thambidurai told correspondents that he was not aware of the formation of such a committee. But, he added, his leader J Jayalalitha would take a final decision in the matter.

Petroleum Minister V Ramamurthy asked where was the need for a committee when there was enough coordination.

An announcement on the formation of the committee and its members may be made tomorrow.

Singh said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will chair the coordination committee in which leaders of all the coalition partners would be members. All those who were part of the committee to finalise the national agenda for the coalition government would also be there.

There would be some special invitees too, he added.

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Singh said the agenda for the first meeting would be finalised in time as this would be the first time the leaders wouldmeet at a political forum after the government was installed.

Ashok Kumar shifted

Ashok Kumar, special secretary in the Home Ministry who headed a Central team to Chennai to assess the law and order situation, was on Tuesday shifted out of the ministry to the Planning Commission. Kumar has been appointed advisor in the Planning Commission in the rank and pay of secretary. Kumar was in the eye of a storm for his public statement in Chennai on April 15.

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