Moopanar adamant about not joining United Front govt

United Front leader I K Gujral still believes the Tamil Maanila Congress will join the new government.

Gujral says he met TMC chief G K Moopanar late on Saturday night to try and and persuade him to join the UF government. ''Though Mr Moopanar's response was not positive, I am not in the habit of taking 'no' from anyone ... I will persuade him till he joins us,'' the prospective prime minister said.

Front convener Nara Chandrababu Naidu also met Moopanar on Sunday morning to request him to join the government.

But Moopanar stuck to his guns and reiterated his party's decision not to join the government. After the 30-minute meeting with Naidu, he told reporters that the TMC's decision to keep out of the government and to extend support from outside was final.

Asked if he would settle for the the post of deputy prime minister, Moopanar, perhaps the most laconic of India's leaders, quipped, ''I am not deputy prime minister material.''

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said it was for the new government to decide the fate of the Budget he presented to Parliament on February 28.

Parliament will convene on Monday for a special three-day session, mainly to transact financial matters and pass the Budget.

The TMC parliamentary party in Madras endorsed the party's decision to stay away from the proposed United Front government, but extend support from outside.

In a statement, the party's 20 MPs said they could prove ''that those supporting a government from outside are more responsible than those in it.''

They said the TMC's ideological commitment and loyalty to the Front has been put to question by branding the party as ''Congress-friendly.''

''When the party's morality and its sincerity towards the Front has been questioned, why do we need power?'' the MPs asked.

The MPs felt the TMC's crucial role in the formation of the Front, its unflinching support to the H D Deve Gowda government these last ten months and its role in drawing up policies and their implementation should not be forgotten.

Moopanar was conspicuous by his absence at the UF steering committee meeting on Sunday afternoon which was attended by all the Front's top leaders.

Cracks appear in DMK-TMC alliance over Moopanar's decision"