Parikh reserves berths for Cong

NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh is believed to have made a formal offer to the Congress to join his government an...

NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh is believed to have made a formal offer to the Congress to join his government and provide stability in the State, in his crucial meeting with Congress president Sitaram Kesri today. The offer to share power was the first firm step to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from splitting the ranks of the Congress and the Rashtriya janata party (RJP) in Gujarat.

Parikh, who had a busy day in his first visit here after assuming Chief Minister-ship, held a 45-minute discussion with Kesri and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Pranab Mukherjee on how to tackle the crisis in Gujarat. He also called on President K R Narayanan, Vice-President Krishna Kant and Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta on sundry issues relating to the State.

Parikh is said to have told Kesri that he had deliberately not sworn-in a jumbo Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) ministry to leave space for the Congress should it join in for a coalition government.

The Chief Minister’s firm suggestion was that a Congress representative could be number two in the ministry and that enough berths could be provided in a RJP-Congress government. Indications were that Kesri was quite amenable to the concept of sharing power as a section of the Gujarat Congress was stressing on it. However, Kesri is supposed to have insisted that any development on these lines would be taken after the vote of confidence on November 13. Parikh concurred, and said that he had an open mind on the matter and that it could be finalised after the vote.

The BJP, on its side, has offered outside support to a government led by former Chief Minister Chhabildas Mehta, who is an important leader of the JD(G) group in the Gujarat CLP. The idea being that if Mehta could break away 16 MLAs with him, the BJP could then prop him up from outside, like it did with Mayawati in UP.

However, Congress MP Urmilaben Patel, the other major player in JD(G) group, is reported to have insisted that this assurance be given in writing with the condition that the government would not be brought down before completing its term. The BJP clearly is not in a position to do this. Also, the move to support a Mehta-led government is likely to lead to a rebellion within the BJP whose MLAs are not exactly in a mood to make further accommodations. Meanwhile, Mehta feels either the Congress should bring the Parikh government down or share power.

The numbers game is getting a bit complicated with the CLP not sure how many could break away. Pranab Mukherjee reiterated again today that the party high command will only react after the Gujarat unit takes a decision on going with the RJP government.

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One thing is certain — the Congress will do anything to prevent a repeat of UP in Gujarat. The CWC meeting tomorrow evening is slated to take note of what transpired between Kesri and Parikh. Kesri is expected to brief his CWC colleagues on the Gujarat situation and other issues.

The CWC will review the overall political situation in the country consequent to the BJP coup that formed the UP government with the help of Congress defectors.