The Prime Minister is believed to have given his go-ahead for the NDA to make a determined bid to form a government even if it falls short of a majority—a scenario painted by exit polls and reinforced by the NDA rout in Andhra Pradesh. This includes reaching out to Mayawati rather than Mulayam as was the buzz. Whether there is a minimum cut-off for either the party or the NDA, Vajpayee has not spelt out. But there is a growing consensus within the party that anything below 250 for the NDA or 183 for the party would make government formation difficult. Vajpayee held two meetings with NDA convenor George Fernandes today giving him the job of getting the numbers together and ‘‘do everything possible’’ to rope in allies, old and new, to fashion a ‘‘New NDA.’’ An important aide of the Prime Minister’s Office has also been asked to back-stop Fernandes. While all potential allies are keeping their cards close to their chests waiting for May 13, Fernandes’s strategy has twin planks: One, to bring back allies who had left, the INLD, the National Conference, the PMK and the MDMK. Incidentally, Fernandes and Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal both spoke to INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala who has kept his options open. But PMK’s S Ramadoss has ruled out joining the NDA and so has the NC although Badal spoke to Omar Abdullah as well. Fernandes is also working to rope in new allies: BSP, Sharad Pawar, JD(S), and even the TRS which was the Congress’s ally in Andhra Pradesh and responsible for the sweep in Telengana. Pawar also said no to NDA today and it’s unlikely that H D Deve Gowda will budge. Telengana Rashtra Samithi chief Chandrashekhar Rao was ambivalent on the question of supporting the NDA at the Centre when asked if he could lend his party’s support to it if they took steps to create a Telengana state. A significant development today was the decision of the NDA leadership to abandon any plans it might have had to get Mulayam Singh Yadav’s support. It has finally sunk in that Yadav will find it very difficult to support the NDA without committing political suicide. While the BJP has decided against targeting Mulayam to elicit his support, the Congress focused its efforts today to secure his backing to a Congress-led, preferably a Sonia Gandhi-led, government. This is believed to have come up in Sonia’s meeting with Harkishen Singh Surjeet when the Congress president called on him at his residence. Arjun Singh and V P Singh also broached this subject with the CPM leader when they met him. Later Surjeet talked to Mulayam. However, everyone is hedging their bets till May 13. Clearly, the BJP plans to woo the BSP instead, and if push comes to shove, it may even be willing to offer Maywati deputy prime ministership, sources said. The New NDA may be willing to go in for more than one DPM this time, if it becomes necessary to form a government. After all, the Janata Party government in 1977 had also resorted to two DPMs, but this is not likely to sail through. In any case, the BSP chief has also refused to show her cards until May 13. While the NDA leaders are banking on weaning away Sharad Pawar, by offering him a plum post at the Centre, this is not going to be easy with Pawar having to face an Assembly election later this year for which he would need the support of the Congress. In fact, today he said that his party would stay with the ‘‘non-NDA formation.’’ The DMK will also not break with the Congress for Karunanidhi has to contend with Assembly elections in 2006 for which he, too, needs the support of the Congress.
