Feb 22, 1999
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GOVERNMENT Sops for Survival First it was Jayalalitha, then came Mamata, now it's Chautala--the BJP's allies are squeezing the Vajpayee government for freebies. By Harinder Baweja and L R Jagadheesan Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee thought he'd left his troubles behind him when he boarded the special aircraft to attend the G-15 summit in Jamaica. Before leaving, he had taken a precaution that is almost becoming mandatory for leaders heading shaky coalitions. He had personally spoken to each of his alliance partners. But even as the Air-India jumbo was winging its way towards the Caribbean, his Government ran into unexpected turbulence.
After holding out for the past 10 months, the Vajpayee Government was slowly acquiescing to demands from various quarters. The notification regarding the cases against Jayalalitha was touted as a victory flag. But to Jayalalitha's dismay and the Government's embarrassment, the special judges refused to even acknowledge the prized piece of handiwork issued by the Ministry of Personnel, headed by the AIADMK's R. Janarthanam, saying it was not even worth the paper it was written on. That controversial piece of paper has, however, cast aspersions on the Centre's motives. When the judges of the special courts refused to acknowledge the notification saying they would only go by the directions of the Madras High Court, the Centre's motives came under fire, with legal experts saying the Government stood totally naked. "The exercise is arbitrary. The move has violated the concept of federalism," said senior Chennai advocate K.P. Krishna Shetty. Former additional solicitor-general Abhishek Singhvi concurred: "Choosing specific judges for specific cases amounts to choosing your judge and thus your judgement and that is pernicious." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, whose Government has vowed to pursue Jayalalitha to the end of the world, tried to take the moral high ground, saying, "I pity the prime minister. He is scared of a confrontation with Jayalalitha." After all, the move to transfer the cases came barely a few days before the validity of the setting up of the special courts was to be heard by the Supreme Court on February 15. Jayalalitha had taken the case to the apex court herself after the Madras High Court had upheld their validity. Vajpayee is, perhaps, also giving in to the allies because the Congress is making belligerent noises and trying to woo them. The party's silence on the notification which has been lambasted by one and all is a case in point. Choosing to survive is what Vajpayee seems to have opted for now, under attack as he is from his ideological fraternity. As a BJP general secretary puts it, "It's easier to appease the allies than to rein in the RSS." The alliance partners know this only too well and each one is playing games to get as much as possible from the Government. Mamata displayed her skills at extracting her pound of flesh at an impressive rally in Calcutta on February 10, organised to commemorate one year of the TC's existence. It was attended by, among others, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan, the Mr Quickfix of the Union Cabinet, who was Vajpayee's emissary. By the time the leaders took the stage, Mamata had been given the list of goodies. Enough for her to remind the audience that "Bengal's demands have been conceded". The sops, however, came with a rider. As a parting shot, Mahajan told the audience -- after ensuring that Mamata was listening -- that the Vajpayee Government was like the kalpataru vriksha. "Stand in its shade, and it will give you anything you ask of it. But ensure the tree isn't felled." And just in case Mamata hadn't got it, he added: "Join the Government." Since the Government was willing to go to the extent of embarrassing itself, it must have come as no surprise to them to have Chautala jump on to the sops bandwagon. Roll back prices of urea, sugar and lpg by February 21, began his list of demands. At the heart of the threat is Chautala's desire to engineer himself into the chief minister's chair in Haryana. That's an added problem for the prime minister since Bansi Lal is already occupying that chair and his Haryana Vikas Party is in alliance with the BJP in the state. The BJP's demanding partners have realised that Vajpayee is in a very generous mood these days. Having resisted their demands all this while, Vajpayee may soon realise that his allies are the kind who when given an inch ask for a mile. --with Avirook Sen |
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In Chennai, three special judges dismissed with contempt a
notification from the Centre transferring the corruption cases against AIADMK supremo J.
Jayalalitha from the special courts to the sessions court. Simultaneously, Indian National
Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala placed a charter of demands and warned that
non-compliance could result in his four-member group withdrawing support. Trinamool
Congress (TC) leader Mamata Banerjee too upped the ante, but was eventually placated by
generous sops from the Government. 
