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Chidambaram and Bakht see no threat to government, but Gujral feels things are shaky

Tamil Maanila Congress leader and former Union finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram today said the BJP-led government at the Centre would not fall unless the Congress took the initiative to dislodge it.

Talking to newsmen at Chincholi in Karnataka, Chidambaram said since the Congress did not seem to be interested in ousting the Vajpayee government, there was no possibility of a change now.

Chidambaram said in the present situation, no political party wanted fresh elections to Parliament. Terming the Vajpayee government also as "unstable", he said there was no alternative.

The TMC leader said he did not believe that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would forge an alliance with the AIADMK. He hoped that Sonia would not commit such a "blunder".

On AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha exerting pressure on the Union government to dismiss the DMK government in the state, Chidambaram said there was no justification in her demand, which was politically motivated.

He commended the BJP-led government for not succumbing to Jayalalitha's pressure to invoke Article 356 and dismiss the Karunanidhi government.

Replying to a question, Chidambaram ruled out the possibility of a realignment of political forces in Tamil Nadu. His party would remain with the DMK and the United Front. The TMC was the real Congress in the state, he added.

Chidambaram said his party was not contacted by the newly-formed United Democratic Front of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav. The TMC would remain in the United Front, irrespective of the formation of other fronts, he added.

On the economic sanctions, he said the indirect implications of the sanctions would be more compared to the direct impact on our economy.

In the long run, India might face a serious economic crisis in the form of slowing down of foreign direct investment and gradual withdrawal of capital investment by foreign entrepreneurs. The immediate casualty of the economic sanctions was the rupee, which could not sustain a further slide against the dollar, resulting in higher rate of inflation, the former finance minister said.

Chidambaram criticised the BJP-led government for playing down the impact of the economic sanctions and said finance minister Yashwant Sinha must be groping in the dark while assessing its exact impact on the Indian economy.

In Calcutta, former prime minister I K Gujral said that there was nothing wrong in the Congress' effort to form a new government at the Centre.

Speaking to reporters on his return from Dhaka, Gujral said after the BJP, the Congress was the second largest party and would have to discharge their constitutional duty.

However, it was the Congress' affair to demand written assurances from parties willing to support the new government, he added.

Describing the present political scenario as shaky, Gujral stated that even under the best of circumstances, the BJP was full of uncertainty as most of the allies had their own agenda.

Asked how long the present government would last, the former prime minister said that it was a matter of speculation but the situation was taking its toll on the economy.

Referring to the announcement of the formation of four new states-- Uttaranchal, Vananchal, Chhatisgarh and Delhi, Gujral felt it needed a great deal of attention and study. No hurried decision should have been taken. He, however, refused to comment on the newly formed Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha.

The former prime minister had been to Dhaka to address a three-day seminar on Indo-Bangladesh relations. He also met Bangladesh president, prime minister, leader of the Opposition and General H M Ershad. According to him, Bangladesh highly valued its relations with India. Indo-Bangladesh relations had progressed much after the Ganga water treaty. There was a consensus among the political parties that Indo-Pak talks should be resumed at its earliest.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Industry Minister Sikander Bakht said the Congress is in two minds over toppling the BJP-led government. So there is no substance in the apprehensions of political instability, he said.

Though Sonia Gandhi had said her party would not shirk responsibilities, she has ruled out making efforts to oust the government, Bakht told UNI in an interview.

''If the Congress, which is the largest Opposition party, could not take firm decision on the issue, I don't think there is any threat to the government,'' he said.

On the Congress' claim that the government would fall on its own because of its inner contradictions, the senior BJP minister expressed confidence that Jayalalitha will remain with the coalition and the government would continue functioning in a smooth manner.

If the government had to fall it would have fallen by now, Bakht said, and added that its continuance in power itself showed that there is no political uncertainty at the Centre.

''One has to make political reading out of the given situation. Everybody (the Opposition) is crying hoarse about pulling down the government, but nothing is happening on that front,'' he said.

In fact, survival of the government is the need of the hour as the country is not in a mood to see another spell of political vacuum, Bakht said.

UNI

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