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Pawar expects 'decisive news' on Jayalalitha's threat

Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar today said he expected "decisive news" regarding the lingering threat by the All India Anna DMK to withdraw support to the A B Vajpayee government.

Although a meeting of the AIADMK MPs this morning authorised the party chief Jayalalitha to take 'appropriate action at the appropriate time', Pawar pointed out that he still expected some sort of decisive news. He, however, declined to elaborate.

Pawar made the statement after coming out of a function organised by the ex-servicemen's cell of the AICC which was addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

While Sonia refrained from giving any inkling of her party's stance on the AIADMK's threat to withdraw support to the BJP-led government, she underscored during her address to the ex-servicemen that prices were rising, crime was becoming all-pervasive, the law and order situation had deteriorated and the general scenario was bleak for the people. Together with the ex-servicemen's cooperation, the Congress could rectify matters, she said amidst deafening applause.

However, even as the looming threat from the AIADMK to the Vajpayee government appears to have dissipated, Congress leaders seem divided over the fate of the BJP-led government.

Like Pawar, senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary Madhavrao Scindida pointed out that one must not dismiss the AIADMK's threat as sabre-rattling. "Don't jump to hasty conclusions, she could still spring a nasty surprise for the BJP," Scindia contended, refusing to say anything more.

Scindia's colleague, Oscar Fernandes, said while he did not favour making political predictions, the dynamics of politics allowed that anything could happen at any moment.

A former AICC secretary during Sitaram Kesri's tenure as party president said Sonia would continue her series of informal high-level meetings with party colleagues to assess the political situation and to discuss the measures necessary in the event of a political contingency.

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