All the 14 constituents of the United Front have written to President Shanker Dayal Sharma, saying that in case the Gowda government loses the vote of confidence today, none of them will support a BJP or a Congress government. The move has blocked all chances of either the BJP or the Congress forming a government. This also binds Front constituents from negotiating an alliance with the Congress or the BJP.
To reiterate their stand on the issue the parties plan to take their MPs to the President in a bus if the government falls today.
Earlier the three regional parties of the United Front Telugu Desam, DMK and Asom Gana Parishad held a separate meeting of what they call the Federal Front late Wednesday night in Assam Bhawan and decided to oppose any move in the United Front to form a coalition government with the Congress party before or after the vote of confidence.
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The meeting started late after the Fronts convenor and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu returned from the Prime Ministers residence late in the night. Naidu briefed Gowda on the talks with the Congress, held earlier in the evening.
The three chief ministers, Naidu, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta of Assam and M Karunanidhi of Tamil Nadu were of the view that they should move together against any move to rope in the Congress Party into the coalition as a solution to present tangle. They were of the opinion that in this they would get full cooperation of the Left Parties.
With them forming the core and the Communists supporting them, they felt they would be able to influence the steering committee to adopt their line, which they ultimately did.
A source close to Naidu said that even if there was a change of heart in the Congress after the Front government is defeated on the floor of the House, a new government will not have Congress representatives in it.
In such an eventuality, the Front would have an open understanding with Congress with a set mechanism of consultation and cooperation with them.
The decision by Front partners to write to the President also sets at rest speculation that the Deve Gowda government might skip the vote of confidence by walking out just before the vote of confidence is taken up.
Jena said the cabinet will meet only after the vote to recommend dissolution if needed and not before.
It had been widely speculated that the Union cabinet would meet and take a decision on dissolution before losing majority on the floor of the House, so that its recommendation is binding on the President.