Atal is half-way there

NEW DELHI, March 10: President K R Narayanan went by conventional wisdom today and opted to give the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime minister...

NEW DELHI, March 10: President K R Narayanan went by conventional wisdom today and opted to give the Bharatiya Janata Party8217;s prime ministerial candidate Atal Behari Vajpayee first chance to form the government.

But the BJP8217;s long wait for a second stab at power at the Centre continued with Narayanan wanting to be fully convinced about its ability to 8220;form a stable government which can secure the confidence of the House8221;.

Responding to a fax message from Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vajpayee called on the President this evening and gave him a list of 252 MPs belonging to the BJP and its pre-poll allies. He also assured him that he was 8220;in a position to form a stable government which would command the confidence of the House8221;.

But the President has asked him to furnish documents of proof of support, which Vajpayee is slated to present to him tomorrow. The BJP hopes that the President will then invite Vajpayee to form the government.

For the BJP, which was expecting to be invited to form the government, thePresident8217;s ultra-cautious line seems to have come as a surprise. Before leaving for Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vajpayee made prime ministerial statements like 8220;the cabinet will not be unnecessarily large8221; and talking of consensual politics.

Naryanan8217;s letter to Vajpayee merely stated: 8220;Insofar as your8217;s is the single largest party in the Lok Sabha and the largest pre-election alliance, I request you to let me know whether you are able and willing to form a stable government which can secure the confidence of the House.8221;

Emerging from the 30-minute meeting with Narayanan, Vajpayee looked composed but not elated. He admitted that they were a 8220;little short of a clear majority8221;. 8220;Kaam kathin hai, lekin hamein use poora karne ka bharosa hai the task is difficult but we are confident we will be able to cross the hurdle. We are in touch with leaders of other parties.8221; The BJP combine is still in a minority, with the assured support of 261 MPs 270 are needed to win the vote of confidence. However,party general secretary Pramod Mahajan, who accompanied Vajpayee to Rashtrapati Bhavan, said, 8220;I can assure you that we will have a majority on the day of the floor test.8221;Narayanan is clearly playing very safe, wanting to avoid criticism by a repeat of the 1996 experience when Vajpayee, after being sworn in by the then President, Shankar Dayal Sharma, had to bow out within 13 days because he was unable to muster adequate support.

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After the Rashtrapati Bhavan meeting, BJP leaders went into a huddle at party president L K Advani8217;s home for a strategy session to discuss how to muster numbers and also how best to convince the President that it could provide a stable government though it lacked a majority.

The strength of the BJP combine touched 261 today, with a letter of support from former Congress minister Buta Singh, who won as an Independent from Jalore Rajasthan.

BJP managers will now work overtime to get more letters of support from the three north-eastern MPs who are undecided whether to supportthe party.

Efforts are also being made to win over National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, whose party currently has two MPs.