BJP says, Atal is PM again or we go to polls

NEW DELHI, APRIL 19: With the passage of the Budget now certain, the battle to capture caretaker status began in right earnest today. The BJP and Opposition camps were beehives of activity as both tried to exploit contradictions on the other side to bolster their respective claims.Implicit in the ongoing struggle is the reality most MPs fear: mid-term polls. The BJP today spelt it out clearly with spokesman Venkaiah Naidu saying, "Either Atal Behari Vajpayee must remain Prime Minister or it’s back to the voter."

The Congress, which can dislodge the Vajpayee Government only be leading an alternative government, is keeping its cards well hidden. But it was quite clear it saw the alternative it is trying to cobble together as a stopgap arrangement till polls are feasible. All through the day, Congress leaders and their brokers from the Left Front, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu, kept up the pressure on anti-BJP parties to support a Congress minority government from outside. The chief targets were thetruculent anti-Congress elements in their camp — Mulayam Singh Yadav, the RSP and the Forward Block. Simultaneously, the BJP sent out its emissaries to woo unhappy MPs on the other side. BJP leader P R Kumaramangalam pulled out his trade union credentials to talk to the RSP and FB while Lok Shakti chief R K Hegde used a bit of dinner diplomacy with his Janata Dal contacts in the evening. Thanks to the strenuous efforts on its behalf, the Congress moved a couple of inches closer to its goal. The high point of the day was the evening meeting between Mulayam Singh and Sonia Gandhi at 10, Janpath. It was an indication that he was softening but Singh maintained that he would take a final decision only after consulting his party workers in Lucknow.The RSP and FB continued to hold out today but added that they would meet with the other constituents of the Left Front on Wednesday for another round of discussions. On the other hand, the Congress seems to have brought AIADMK chief Jayalalitha around. She is believedto have handed over her letter of support to Sonia Gandhi when the two met this morning.

Although yesterday, Congress leaders had said there was no need for them to produce letters supporting parties, they changed their tune today, realising perhaps that President K R Narayanan could not overturn a precedent he himself had set when he invited Vajpayee to form the government last year. Today’s efforts were aimed primarily at obtaining these letters and various leaders like Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar, Madhavrao Scindia, etc. were pressed into service. The BJP’s allies were also the focus of attention from both sides. The BJP tried to put up a show of unity by calling a coordination committee meeting this morning. But MPs of the Samata Party, Biju Janata Dal and Trinamool Congress continued to hold secret parleys with Congress intermediaries.

According to Congress sources, several MPs are ready to break away from their parent parties but the price they are demanding is a ministerial berth. This would not be aproblem if they were to merge with the Congress and an informal meeting is scheduled at 10, Janpath tonight to discuss the ramifications of taking them into the party.