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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4049)	4/15/1999 11:36:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Fat Ass to Ferangi, 'Come be my PM'. Oh this is great,what a country! ================================= Friday, April 16, 1999 At 10, Janpath, Jaya tells Sonia, come be my PM VIJAY SIMHA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DELHI, APRIL 15: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalitha today offered Prime Ministership of the country to Congress president Sonia Gandhi if and when the Vajpayee Government fell, in an important 75-minute meeting between the two leaders at 10, Janpath. She added that the ADMK would ''fully support'' Sonia in ''forming and running'' the new government. But whether the ADMK will be a part of the government wasn't decided. The one-to-one discussion -- their first since the Government was reduced to a minority -- was swiftly interpreted as the most crucial development thus far in the anti-BJP camp, one which ''cleared the air'' to a large extent between the Congress and the ADMK and which laid down the basic structure of an understanding between the two parties. Highly placed sources said the talks assumed that the BJP Government would fall and ended in a broad understanding on four counts: That the new government would be headed by the Congress, that Sonia would be the''only'' Prime Ministerial nominee from the Congress, that the ADMK is willing to be part of the coalition and that the two parties will work ''together'' in Tamil Nadu. The one thing the duo left unclear was whether the Congress would prefer a minority government with support from outside or run a coalition like the BJP. It is understood that Jayalalitha left it to Sonia, merely saying if she would head a coalition, then the list of AIADMK nominees would be handed over to Sonia in the next meeting between the two, presumably after Saturday's voting. Jayalalitha entered 10, Janpath, at 5 p.m. with Thambidurai and S R Muthaiah (both were not part of the meeting), her discussions with Sonia ended at 6.15 p.m. and she dodged the waiting media en route to hotel Maurya Sheraton where she is staying. But at the hotel she spoke to journalists and hinted at what was discussed. ''Our concentration at the moment is on defeating the confidence motion of the Vajpayee Government. Our attention is now diverted toensuring that this Government goes. I am hundred per cent sure that this Government will not survive. Once this Government goes, you will find things taking place at lightning speed.'' She added:''The ADMK had been part of a coalition government in the past. There is no question of the ADMK not willing to join an alternative government now. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu is on record saying the CPM would have no objection if the AIADMK was part of the alternative government. Only the DMK is feeling left out. However, we have not yet reached the stage where we have to decide on that. We do not know the intention of the Congress whether it wants to form a minority government with support of all parties supporting it from outside, or to head a coalition government.'' All this leaves the fall of the Vajpayee Government the only hurdle in the equation being worked out by the Congress. The party is now more or less clear that Sonia is ready to take over as the country's next Prime Minister. It isalso being sounded out within the CWC that if the Congress is unable to cobble together a stable set-up, elections can be held with Sonia as PM. Indications are that the Congress might have to do with a coalition, the only questions now are being raised by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the RSP and the Forward Bloc. All three ironically are the ''responsibility'' of CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet who has told Congress leaders he will bring the Samajwadi Party, RSP and Forward Bloc around when the D-day comes. In the event of a Congress-led coalition, the ADMK, Janata Party (whose Subramanian Swamy can at last expect a Cabinet berth), RJD and RPI are near certainties in the government. Smaller outfits like the National Conference, SDF etc will then come over, feel Congressmen which is why the stress on the Vajpayee government falling before the Congress makes public its own plans of a government. However, so far Congress leaders have had no success in getting the Samata Party, BJD, TDP or the AkaliDal to split. Saturday should make things clear but one thing though is already obvious: Arjun Singh will probably stay on as Sonia's voice in the media either way. expressindia.com