Some BJP leaders have started working out the contours of the BJPs attack on the United Front and the Congress if the two reach a compromise to stave off the crisis facing the government.
A section of the party leadership has concluded that the BJP should remain passive in the whole drama. These leaders feel that the party should try to form a government only when the United Fronts regional allies change their attitude towards the BJP, which they have termed communal. The BJP would watch the regional parties after the UF governments confidence vote on April 11, and would expect them to approach us rather than we approaching them, in case the government fell, a party office-bearer said.
The partys predicament of being exposed, if it adopts a pro-active role, is because of the strong anti-BJP stand taken by the regional parties. They are unlikely to support the BJP, another office-bearer said. For example the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), would prefer the Congress to the BJP as they would be natural allies, he held.
Some BJP leaders conclusion that the Congress and the UF may finally climbdown from their respective uncompromising stands is also based on their information that the Deve Gowda government has launched a politics of persecution to blackmail the Congress. The government has prepared files against about 100 Congress MPs who are allegedly involved in criminal or corruption cases, a BJP leader said. This is to force them to dilute their uncompromising attitude, he held.
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee shared this information with members of the partys national executive meeting while giving the valedictory address. Vajpayee reportedly said that former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had similarly blackmailed senior Congress leader Arjun Singh to resign from the Congress.
There is a likelihood of the BJP using this to malign the Congress and the UF if they resolve their differences. In Vajpayees same vein, party general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday accused the UF of acting behind the scene and collecting information in order to blackmail Congress leaders. The blackmail tactics were adopted by some UF leaders earlier as well, he asserted and pointed out that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had told the Congress leadership if you withdraw, you have to go to Tihar.
Similarly, Karnataka Chief Minister JH Patel had said if the Congress has guts they should withdraw. The country is at a loss to understand why some of the UF leaders who challenged the Congress to withdraw support was making an appeal to the party now to reconsider its decision after the withdrawal, the BJP leader said. This reflects that all their differences are personal, personal and personal and people are made to pay the penalty for the folly of the so called pro-people government.
Naidu said the BJP would not bail out the UF government, although he conceded that a final decision on this would be taken by Vajpayee on April 11.
Follow Vajpayee, says whip
The BJP yesterday decided to issue a three line whip to its Lok Sabha members, asking them to be present in the house on April 11 and vote as per directions of the partys parliamentary leader and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The party has kept its options open in anticipation that anything can happen during the debate on Prime Minister HD Deve Gowdas confidence vote or during the time of voting.
The partys national executive meeting has authorised Vajpayee to take a final decision on the issue although the BJPs parliamentary party meeting is scheduled to meet on April 10 to chalk out the partys direction. Vajpayees decision would come after consultations with party MPs.
