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BJP buys peace with Jaya, sells Karunanidhi downstream

George Iype in New Delhi

Pressurised by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha's frequent threats to ditch the Bharatiya Janata Party government, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seems to be finally moving towards the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK leaders claimed on Wednesday that the prime minister has assured Jayalalitha that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will be dismissed after the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.

AIADMK members of Parliament met Vajpayee on Wednesday morning in an effort to impress him upon the need to take action against the Karunanidhi government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

The delegation of Tamil MPs also submitted two letters to the prime minister on behalf of Jayalalitha. While one letter questions the Vajpayee government on its hesitation to dismiss the Karunanidhi regime, the second letter reminds the prime minister of the promised Cabinet reshuffle.

AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Margabandhu told Rediff On The Net that "we have convinced the prime minister about the need to throw out Chief Minister Karunanidhi."

"We are ready to wait till the Budget session is over. But now the BJP leadership cannot pretend that our demand is not genuine," he asserted.

According to Margabandhu, in the past three months, the AIADMK's single most important demand has been the dismissal of the Karunanidhi government "because it is inefficient, corrupt and lacks credibility before the people."

He said the prime minister also spoke to Jayalalitha in Madras and assured the AIADMK chief that the Central government was constantly reviewing the prevailing law and order situation in Tamil Nadu.

"We will not rest until the Karunanidhi government is dismissed and President's rule is imposed in Tamil Nadu," Margabandhi added.

Sources said Jayalalitha appears to have arrived at "a short-term understanding" with the BJP leadership on the ouster of the Karunanidhi regime.

Accordingly, while Jayalalitha is willing to hold back and continue supporting the government till the Budget session is over, the BJP leadership would finalise a plan of action to unseat the DMK government.

Given the bellicosity of Jayalalitha's frequent threat to withdraw support, the top BJP leaders have now turned to Home Minister L K Advani for advice. Some of them feel that the home minister should review the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu once again in an attempt to put Karunanidhi in the dock.

Ministry sources said Advani might now send another team of Central officials to Madras to collate information whether the DMK government has been harbouring fundamentalist groups in the state or not.

While Vajpayee has got a breather from Jayalalitha, whether the latter, who has been carrying on a relentless campaign to oust Karunanidhi, will succeed in her mission will be known only after the end of the current Budget session in July.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK today resumed its protest walkouts in both houses of Parliament demanding the dismissal of the DMK government.

The AIADMK, which has been staging a walkout in both the houses of Parliament since last Friday, suspended it yesterday. This was interpreted in political circles as a truce with the ruling BJP.

Additional reportage by UNI

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