BJP could wangle support in AP, TN

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Though it is still speculative, the Kesri-Deve Gowda deadlock may bring the Bharatiya Janata Party closer to such regional parties as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Tamil Maanila Congress and the Telugu Desam Party.

Of course, now these parties still stand by H D Deve Gowda, if only to stop blackmail by the Congress. After last year's election , both the DMK and the TMC had insisted that the Congress should not elect outgoing prime minister P V Narasimha Rao as its parliamentary party chief because he had joined hands with the 'corrupt and lawless' state government of All India Anna DMK chief Jayalalitha Jayaram. Now the two parties cannot explain away any possible U-turn in their public stand and team up with the Congress.

At around the same time last year, a rumour was floated that the DMK and the TMC would support a BJP government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Though the regional parties denied it, informed sources assert that these rumours were spawned by leaders of both parties to warn the Congress what could happen if they continued with Rao. The rumours were also intended to test the reaction from voters and the grassroot party cadres. There was no complaint from these quarters. The rumour was also intended to make the BJP realise it could count on the two -- and perhaps the TDP in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh too -- in winning the confidence vote on May 28, 1996.

Things didn't quite work out but now, with an election looking imminent, there is a good chance these regional parties may move closer to the BJP.