Pramod Mahajan, former aide to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, yesterday said he was contemplating legal action against AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha for indirectly alleging that he took bribes to get M K Bezbaruah transferred out of the Enforcement Directorate.
"Instead of beating around the bush, you should name me through a signed document so that I can take appropriate legal action," Mahajan wrote to Jayalalitha. He faxed her the letter and released copies to the Press. Jayalalitha should not be afraid to take names if she was interested in fighting corruption, he said.
In her letter to the Prime Minister's Office, Jayalalitha had alleged through an aide that a newspaper group bribed a person who recently left the PMO. Mahajan said the reference was obviously to him as he was the only one to have left the PMO recently.
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The entire basis of her allegation seemed to be "an adverse inference" drawn out of his meeting with executives of a newspaper group, Mahajan said. He pointed out that he had met executives of all important newspapers in the last six months.
"However, no one from the Times of India group ever requested me to intervene in any case, and no one from the group ever asked for any consideration," he clarified.
Times of India group proprietor Ashok Jain has been accused of violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Mahajan pointed out that Jain was arrested after the BJP came to power. This was proof of the BJP's neutrality, he claimed.
Mahajan's statement is being taken in BJP circles as a signal of the government's readiness to oust the AIADMK from the ruling coalition. BJP leaders held that Mahajan would be vindicated if Jayalalitha did not reply and his letter would prepare the ground for the BJP's counter-offensive.
Mahajan reiterated that the Vajpayee government would survive even if the AIADMK withdrew support. Asked if the government had the numbers, he countered, "What does it mean when I say the government will survive even if someone withdraws support?"
Vajpayee had, in fact, seriously considered ousting AIADMK from the coalition but reconsidered on advice from aides, BJP leaders said. The BJP is adding its numbers and may provoke Jayalalitha to withdraw support when it feels secure.
The DMK has said it could support the Vajpayee government. So has the MDMK, a member of the AIADMK-led front supporting Vajpayee.