NEW DELHI, November 16: A shaky United Front has convened its core committee meeting here tomorrow to coincide with the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting to discuss the fallout of Jain Commission's interim report.Tomorrow is a crucial day and may determine whether the Gujral Government can survive the fallout of the Jain Commission. It is for this reason that the UF core committee meeting has been convened and not the steering committee (which was to meet here on November 18).DMK supremo M Karunanidhi, who is arriving here tomorrow, will be attending the core committee meeting.A senior UF Minister claimed that the party meeting had been advanced to accommodate the wishes of many leaders, including Prime Minister I K Gujral. Party sources, however, said the meeting had been advanced so that more time could be obtained to work out a compromise with the Congress.``The signals from the Congress are not very encouraging,'' a senior UF leader acknowledged. ``After Saturday's meeting with Sonia Gandhi, there is pressure on Congress president Sitaram Kesri to demand the DMK's ouster from the coalition government because of its indictment by the Jain Commission for its alleged role in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.''In view of Sonia Gandhi's adamant stance that action be taken against those responsible for the death of her husband, Kesri is finding it increasingly difficult to bury the issue under the carpet.At best the Congress can hope to buy time, but it is becoming clear that a confrontation cannot be avoided indefinitely. And at some stage the Congress will have to withdraw support. Which way the wind is blowing was indicated by the executive committee of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) in Chennai, where some TMC members urged the party high command to break ties with the DMK. The TMC executive meeting deferred its decision for a day. The United Front is in a dilemma. It is virtually impossible for the UF to ask for the DMK to withdraw from the Government, especially after the JD, CPI and the regional parties, including the TDP and the AGP, have publicly declared that they will oppose any such move.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and UF convenor N Chandrababu Naidu, has stated that all the coalition partners are firmly behind the DMK.In an interview to Star TV today, DMK leader Murasoli Maran rejected reports that the UF may be forced to ``sacrifice' the DMK.``If it were so easy to break the United Front then it will be called the disunited Front,'' Maran said.Asked whether the DMK would quit on its own if indicted by the Jain Commission, he said: ``We have no reason to quit at all. The report is full of recycled news.''While it is clear that the JD, CPI, TDP and the AGP are with the DMK and, if pushed to the brink, will be willing to sacrifice the Government, the CPM and the SP feel that the survival of the Government is more important than a show of unity.Kesri jubilant A jubilant Sitaram Kesri has hardened his position on the Jain Commission findings.Those who met him soon after his 45-minute meeting with Sonia Gandhi, reveal that Kesri had never been so cheerful. A mini-meeting of the Congress Working Committee has been in session at his residence since last night and members feel that that there could be no compromise on theJain findings, whatever be the consequences.
