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Deja vu for Vajpayee

The big bang from Madras has blasted the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government out of its nuclear cloud nine.

With the nuclear euphoria ending abruptly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is now trying to defuse the Jayalalitha bomb.

In the wake of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary sending the resignation of her loyalist and Minister of State for Banking and Finance R K Kumar, speculation is rife that she contemplates withdrawal of support to the central government.

It seems Jayalalitha had taken the decision to drop Kumar before she attended the co-ordination committee meeting on May 9. The decision was reportedly taken after her meeting with Vajpayee when she was convinced that the central government was unwilling to clear the cases against her.

"I hope she withdraws support to the government. But I don't know whether she will do it," Jayalalitha's ally and Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy told Rediff On The NeT.

Dr Swamy is going to Madras to assess the situation. Sources close to Jayalalitha revealed that she is thinking in terms of withdrawing support to the government.

As for Kumar's resignation, a BJP source said, "It has been the practice in Tamil Nadu since M G Ramachandran's time to keep the resignation letters of all the ministers with the chief minister. She would have obtained the resignation letters of all her Union ministers before they were sworn in."

Sources in the government said Kumar was involved in the Budget preparation -- which is to be presented on June 1 in Parliament. And that it is unprecedented to remove a minister in the finance ministry on the eve of the Budget presentation.

Usually all important decisions like appointments, Cabinet expansion and overhauls are made after a Parliament session so as to avoid embarrassment in Parliament.

But the prime minister, who cannot afford to wait, acted as a post office, forwarding Kumar's resignation letter to President K R Narayanan.

Asked if the government had taken a decision to expedite the cases against Jayalalitha, a senior BJP leader told Rediff On The NeT, "In her case, we have to maintain a public posture that the law would take its own course. But if we don't give her a clean chit, the only alternative is to lose power at the Centre. To be at the Centre for at least two years we would have to make some compromises."

But these compromises are not forthcoming. The BJP seems to be tightening the screws so that Jayalalitha would have no alternative but to stick to the coalition.

For, if she pulls down the government, the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham would be strengthened. Jayalalitha knows her predicament very well and is hence mounting pressure on the BJP government.

So much so that Health Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai was not sure whether he would make it to a World Health Organisation meeting or not, BJP sources said.

Ezhilmalai is from the Pattali Makkal Katchi and his anxiety proves beyond doubt that even her allies fear severe action from Jayalalitha, as the ministers have not been able to safeguard her interests.

The refrain in the corridors of power is: ''Why would Amma let us enjoy the benefits of power when we cannot help her out with her cases?''

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