Open season: Jaya has no plans to meet PM
George Iype in New Delhi
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's efforts to pacify and rein in the
belligerent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha received a major setback on Tuesday, with the latter rejecting an invitation to meet him in New Delhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and a section of AIADMK leaders had stated on Monday that Vajpayee and Jayalalitha would have a one-to-one meeting on July 10 to iron out their differences and settle some of the southern coalition partner's major demands.
But in a statement in Madras today, Jayalalitha made it clear that she has no plans to meet Vajpayee in the immediate future and that she would not raise the issue of inducting more AIADMK ministers into the Union Cabinet since the party had put forward the demand in May itself.
In an apparent affront to the prime minister, Jayalalitha also cancelled a thanksgiving meeting of her allies in Tamil Nadu slated for August 2 for which
Vajpayee, senior BJP leaders including Home Minister L K Advani and
other coalition partners were invited.
The AIADMK leader, who has been consistently demanding the ouster of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham government in Tamil Nadu, said the thanksgiving programme, which was to be
held at Dindigul on August 2, is being postponed "because of inclement weather and lack of security".
Political observers said by citing 'lack of security' as the reason
for cancelling Vajpayee's programme in Tamil Nadu, Jayalaltiha is again publicly harping on her demand for the dismissal of the Karunanidhi government.
But Jayalalitha's vacillation vis-a-vis the Vajpayee
government has clearly begun to unnerve the BJP leaders especially as the AIADMK support is crucial for the smooth passage of the Railway Budget and the Finance Bill during the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.
"We have been trying to pacify Jayalalitha for the past many days. But nothing seems to be working out with her unless and until we fulfil her demand to dismiss the Karunanidhi government," a BJP functionary told Rediff On
The Net.
He said it is essential that the prime minister and the AIADMK chief
meet face-to-face to settle the problems. "But she has been so aggressive with her demand that it is now unlikely, there seems to be no meeting ground between them," the BJP leader said.
"We feel the prime minister's latest mission -- to keep her quiet -- has
also failed," he added. Vajpayee's emissaries -- Defence Minister
George Fernandes and Minister of State for Coal Dilip Ray -- had met
Jayalalitha in Madras on Saturday and had reportedly extracted a promise from her to keep her mouth shut during the Budget session.
Sensing that the prime minister cannot continue to take his coalition
forward with a strained relationship with Jayalalitha, the BJP leadership also advised him to amicably settle some of her demands.
Jayalalitha's demands include dropping the Enforcement
Directorate's charges against her in the JJTV case, taking action against the Tamil Maanila Congress leaders for their alleged involvement in the Indian Bank scam and transfer and postings of a number of key officials.
The assessment in the BJP camp is that Jayalalitha is not at all averse to the idea of dumping the Vajpayee government to join hands with the Congress headed by Sonia Gandhi. But Sonia has yet to mop up the numbers in Parliament and
chalk out a political combination to dislodge the government.
Therefore, the government managers hope that Vajpayee will wade though the problems created by Jayalalitha for the time being, not because of its inherent strength, but for the lack of any serious threat to topple him by another other political combination.
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