BJP effort to form new front with regional parties

The Bharatiya Janata Party has stepped up efforts to get some regional parties to support it if it forms a government at the Centre.

A senior BJP leader confirmed the party had established contact with the four major constituents of the United Front -- the Asom Gana Parishad, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telugu Desam Party and the Tamil Maanila Congress. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Akali Dal leader Surjeet Singh Barnala and Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal are reportedly playing stellar roles in the effort.

The BJP and its allies -- the Akali Dal, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Haryana Vikas Party, the Samata Party and the Shiv Sena -- had authorised former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Saturday to explore the possibility of getting support from more regional parties to stake a claim to form a government.

Barnala is reportedly in touch with the DMK and, keeping this in view, Vajpayee convened another meeting of leaders of supporting parties on Sunday to obtain feedback. The meeting, however, did not prove fruitful.

BJP vice-president Krishan Lal Sharma said there was no need to speed up negotiations since Parliament was meeting next on April 21 to 23 to pass the Budget. All the political parties, he said, would finalise their strategy only by April 21. ''There is still a week's time. So where is the hurry?'' he asked. He

Sharma said the BJP would stake a claim only when it was sure it could provide a stable government. This was why the party did not want to hasten the process on seeking support. ''Let the indication came from the regional groups or parties,'' he said.

Sources said the BJP, while keeping its options open, has adopted a ''wait-and-watch'' policy till it receives very positive responses. The party feels leaders of the AGP, DMK, TDP and TMC are vacillating and will adjust their strategy depending on which way these parties lean.

BJP leaders said they are counting on a breakdown in the United Front on the issue of leadership. The party also hopes the Congress splits up since many party MPs are unhappy the way Sitaram Kesri abruptly withdrew support to the Front government. In that case, the anti-Kesri group may extend support to the UF with Deve Gowda as its leader, the sources said.

TDP leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu, however, says his party will have no truck with the BJP. Denying that the BJP had approached his party, he said in Hyderabad on Monday, "They have seen my commitment on two occasions and I will stick to my ideology." Although the UF and the Congress are rivals at the state level, he said they had come together to prevent communal forces from coming to power.