BJP leaders feel the Congress will split if the party withdrew support to the United Front govt
Some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were elated at the prospects of a split in the Congress which, they held, would follow if the Congress withdrew support to the United Front government. The only alternative to a split was a mid-term poll , they added.
In case of a split, the split group has the option to either join the United Front government or to support the BJP to form a coalition government headed by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, a BJP general secretary said.
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In the first case, the BJP would gain as the Congress would disintegrate after three-and-a-half year, he claimed. The BJP would like to wait till the next general elections, as by then the political mood in the country would turn in its favour, he further claimed. The BJP would be at an advantage as its enemy number one would be considerably weakened.
Senior BJP leaders have decided not to promise ministerial berths and other plum posts to defectors from other parties if they supported the BJP to form an alternative coalition government at the Centre.
The fear of a mid-term poll and the need for a stable government might lead to other parties MPS to support a government led by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, one of them said.
The Uttar Pradesh experiment, where almost all defectors to the BJP were awarded a ministerial berth, would not be repeated at the Centre, a BJP ideologue said.
To make a BJP-led government possible in this Lok Sabha, the Congress parliamentary party should split with not less than half of it members forming a separate group, he said.
If the United Front refused to dump the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) there was unlikely that the DMK and regional front would not support the BJP to form a government, he added.