Two days of cease-fire and consultations between Congress and the United Front (UF) has made the ruling coalition leaders hopeful that the Congress will finally take back its letter informing President Shanker Dayal Sharma of its decision to withdraw support to Prime Minister H D Deve Gowdas government.
A senior UF leader did not rule out anything to accommodate the views of the Congress, but not with the sword hanging over our head. Let the Congress first restore the status quo by withdrawing its letter to the President and then come to the negotiating table.
Apparently, this is the formula suggested by former Prime Minster V P Singh and agreed upon by all the UF constituents. Any move to work out a permutation and combination before the vote of confidence on April 11 or under Congress pressure would, therefore, be discussed only as the last resort.
One Union minister categorically ruled out his government surviving April 11 with the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) support. We would not do this at any cost. We would rather resign than allow the BJP to bail us out to suit their gameplan, the minister said.
There is a possibility of cracks appearing in the UF if it allowed the BJP to bail out the government, he added.
As for the possibilities after April 11, UF sources do not rule out anything that can save the country from facing a snap poll. What is ruled out is any truck with the BJP, any coalition with Kesari or any other Congress leader as Prime Minister or even the leader of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), one of the UF constituents, G K Moopanar as Prime Minister.
The Union minister said that the plan to withdraw support was drawn up in consultations with 10 Janpath, residence of former Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhis widow, and it included installing Moopanar as the Prime Minister. Congress leader Arjun Singh was also a party to the plan.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet is learnt to have ruled out Moopanar as Prime Minster precisely for this reason.
In case the Congress joins the UF government, the Left may then come out of the coalition and occupy the opposition space. There is even a possibility of some regional parties following suit.
Incidentally, with the Left in the opposition, V P Singhs formula of the secular parties occupying both the ruling and opposition spaces will also remain intact.
Significantly, with West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu playing an active role as a mediator has given rise to speculations that his party, the CPI(M), may join the government eventually.
Basu, who had termed his partys decision not to participate in the UF government as a blunder, had stayed put in Calcutta when the crisis broke out last Sunday, saying he was needed in the assembly which was debating the states budget. He had also said that it was for his party to take a decision on what should be done next. It was only when the party summoned him that he arrived in the Union Capital on Tuesday.
Bau has stayed on after his party meetings were over and has been observing a hectic schedule, meeting various leaders to defuse the crisis.
UF steering panel meet on Monday
NEW DELHI
The United Front (UF) steering committee is likely to meet on Monday after its senior leaders return to the Union Capital from their respective states by Sunday, according to UF spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy.
The fate of the budget may be one of the issues to be discussed at the meeting.Senior steering committee leaders, including the chief ministers of Assam, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, have returned to their respective states after initial discussions in the wake of the Congress withdrawing support to the government on Sunday.
The leaders of the regional parties are currently formulating their strategies in consultation with their respective partymen and would be back by Sunday.
