Advani puts allies8217; resources development on top

NEW DELHI, May 9: Despite the pinpricks they offer, J Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee will continue to play Amma and Didi in the BJP-led 18-...

NEW DELHI, May 9: Despite the pinpricks they offer, J Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee will continue to play Amma and Didi in the BJP-led 18-member coalition arrangement.

This unambiguous message came from none else but Union Home Minister L K Advani, the most assertive and influential voice in the coalition today, during a conclave with a select group of national and state level BJP leaders recently.

At a quiet resort in Chhoradi, 60 km away from Gandhinagar, Advani interacted with about 70 influential national and state-level leaders who will be playing key roles in the organisation. Besides Advani, the national leaders who interacted with the select group included party chief Kushabhau Thakre and general secretaries K N Govindacharya and N Venkaiah Naidu.

quot;Mamata is a mass leader and BJP8217;s Bengal unit will only be losing if it annoys her,quot; is how he responded when a West Bengal leader accused her of being dictatorial towards the BJP. Advani8217;s response clearly was a message to the stateparty chief Tapan Sikdar to mend fences with her.

Advani also silenced Tamil Nadu BJP8217;s criticism of Jayalalitha on the plea that quot;we should not do anything that could damage the coalition arrangement.quot; But he was not as generous in Amma8216;s euology as he was for Mamata.

Advani also explained to the gathering that dismissing the DMK government headed by M Karunanidhi and the one headed by Rabri Devi in Bihar was something the government would like to avoid as a matter of principle. He, however, said the onus of convincing the Centre that there was actually a breakdown in the constitutional machinery in these two states for imposing central rule squarely rested on BJP8217;s respective state units. In that case, the question of using the Article remained wide open.

According to an insider, the idea behind the conclave was to tell quot;real leadersquot; that preserving the coalition arrangement was the top priority as BJP has gained out of such arrangement in the past 8212; 1977 as a constituent of the Janata Partyand 1989 as an ally supporting the government from outside. quot;Such a compulsion could not have been aired in the much larger national council meeting on May 3 and 4 which was open to the media as well,quot; he added. In fact, the conclave also provided a forum for Advani to share with them the government8217;s compulsions in not honouring certain poll promises like dismissing certain non-BJP state governments.