PM looks for window to step in

NEW DELHI, JULY 19: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today mobilised his firefighters to try and defuse the crisis caused by the resign...

NEW DELHI, JULY 19: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today mobilised his firefighters to try and defuse the crisis caused by the resignation of the three Shiv Sena union ministers.

Law Minister Ram Jethmalani was asked to study the legal aspects of the demands made by the trio, including the request to send a direction under Article 355 of the Constitution not to arrest Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Simultaneously, Home Minister L K Advani is also at work, searching for a political solution to the face-off between the Congress-NCP State Government and the Shiv Sena. Senior BJP leaders are believed to have made informal contact with NCP chief Sharad Pawar as part of this process.

The troubleshooting efforts come in the wake of open threats by the Shiv Sena to go on the rampage if Thackeray is arrested. Sena parliamentary party leader Anant Geete said in as many words that the eight member delegation which met the PM this evening warned him that there would be a 8220;law and order problem throughout the country8221;.

Briefing correspondents on the meeting with the PM, Manohar Joshi said that section 153 of the CrPC under which the Maharashtra Government intends to prosecute Thackeray for his communal writings also lays down a time bar. Thackeray8217;s articles are seven years old and they therefore cannot attract prosecution now, Joshi declared.

Sena-BJP relations have deteriorated in the recent past over the BJP8217;s handling of the Kashmir autonomy issue as well as the portfolios of Sena Ministers. Though both Vajpayee and Advani rushed to Mumbai to mollify Thackeray earlier this month after intervention of RSS chief K S Sudarshan and BJP president Kushabhau Thakre, today8217;s resignations seem to be directed against the Maharashtra Government and not the Centre.

The BJP played down the resignation drama. 8220;There is no threat to the Central government as these resignations are against Maharashtra government for its vindictive action against Thackeray,8221; party vice president J P Mathur said. Asked if the party had decided its approach towards the developments in Maharashtra, Mathur said it would be decided after consultations with the state unit.