Jaya threatens to ditch BJP
Insists on original Cauvery draft

CHENNAI, Aug 10 (PTI) — The AIADMK-led front in Tamil Nadu today threatened to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government if it did not notify the original draft scheme to implement the Cauvery water interim award by August 12 and said there was "genuine doubt" that the Centre had agreed not to prosecute Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in return for the acceptance of a revised scheme.

The AIADMK chief Ms J. Jayalalitha told a news conference here that the support to the Vajpayee government would be reviewed after August 12 when the Centre has been directed by the Supreme Court to report on the contentious issue.

She said she had a "genuine doubt" that Mr Karunanidhi and the Centre had entered into a "quid pro quo" deal under which the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister would not be prosecuted on the basis of the Jain Commission report in return for accepting the new scheme.

She demanded a special session of Parliament to consider the details of the new scheme which had been rejected by the AIADMK-led front.

Asked why she had been threatening the withdrawal of support to the Vajpayee government from time to time, Ms Jayalalitha said, "one could not expect it to happen overnight."

"Even in boxing, one does not deliver the knock out punch early. There has to be a lot of sparring," she said.

Ms Jayalalitha also charged that the new scheme was not discussed in the Cabinet and so the AIADMK-led front was not guilty of flouting the collective responsibility as claimed by Mr Karunanidhi.

She, however, put the entire blame on Mr Karunanidhi saying if a Chief Minister was ready for a compromise it was "natural for any Prime Minister to take the easy way out."

She alleged that Mr Karunanidhi had abandoned the original scheme even though there was unanimity at the all-party meeting here on August 3 that there should be no dilution of the original draft.

She said the AIADMK and its allies would have pressured the BJP-led government to notify the original draft scheme if Mr Karunanidhi had stayed away from the New Delhi meet, she added.

Claiming Karnataka had had its way in the new scheme, the AIADMK chief said the state had insisted that the monitoring committee should not have any statutory powers and it should only assist the authority.

While Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry opposed this, Kerala remained neutral, she said.

However, subsequently Tamil Nadu "tamely" accepted this, Ms Jayalalitha added.

She said neither Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee nor any of his representatives talked to her during the Chief Ministers’ meeting on August 6 and August 7, Mr Vajpayee had however, talked to her on August 5 and asked her for her views.

Ms Jayalalitha said she told him that nothing short of the notification of the original draft scheme would be acceptable to her.

When Mr Vajpayee wondered why there should be a controversy on the Cauvery issue as the water position was comfortable this year, she said she insisted that the matter be settled immediately as the water position might not be the the same next year.

GAYA: The Defence Minister Mr George Fernandes, has said doubts raised by AIADMK over the settlement of Cauvery water dispute will "soon be settled’’ and will "in no way affect the health of the Vajpayee government’’.

"The coalition partners in the Vajpayee ministry have their separate agenda. But are one on the question of stability of the government, which will complete its full term", said Mr Fernandes, who is also the national president of Samata Party.

The initiatives for a permanent solution to the long-standing Cauvery dispute is a "major achievement" of the Vajpayee government, he said yesterday.

NEW DELHI: The Chief Secretaries of four Cauvery riparian states on Monday finalised a scheme for the implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery tribunal over which the Chief Ministers had reached an agreement with the Prime Minister last week.

Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka A.P. Muthusamy and B.K. Bhattacharya, said after a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar that "an agreed formulation of the scheme has been prepared".

The formulation was based on the agreed decisions taken at the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Chief Ministers, they said.

Asked when the notification for implementation of the interim award would be issued, Water Resources Secretary Z. Hasan said the Cabinet Secretary would decide on the notification.

'Govt not to give in;' new scheme ready
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — A statement from a senior BJP leader from Karnataka calling the AIADMK supremo, Ms J. Jayalalitha an "extra-constitutional authority" today caught the party Central leadership unawares as it was making a conscious effort to downplay her latest threat of review of support to the Vajpayee government.

While the BJP vice-president, Mr K.L. Sharma, stressed that there was no threat to the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre as the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, would get the problem resolved, a senior leader from Karnataka, Mr H.N. Nanjegowda, said the central government would not be pressurised by the "extra-constitutional authority" of Ms Jayalalitha on the Cauvery issue.

Responding to newspersons' questions on Ms Jayalalitha’s ultimatum of reviewing her party’s support to the government, Mr Sharma expressed confidence that the Prime Minister would get the problem resolved through talks. Mr Vajpayee would hoist the National Flag at the historic Red Fort on August 15, Mr Sharma said in reply to a question.

The Vajpayee government was being run on consensus and decisions taken after consulting allies, the BJP leader said. "We take our allies' concerns,views and suggestions seriously", Mr Sharma said, adding "We are confident that the Prime Minister would sort out all their problems".

Earlier, Mr Nanjegowda said, "Enough is enough. How long can we suffer this attitude? She is a nobody. She is only trying to make political gains. I am confident the government will not submit itself to such extra-constitutional authority on the Cauvery agreement."

"Our government will not tolerate the blackmail tactics of anybody or the intervention of any exta-constitutional authority", Mr Nanjegowda, who was one of the key advisers to the Centre on resolving the impasse regarding implementation of interim reward of the Cauvery tribunal, said. Mr Nanjegowda is a former Irrigation Minister of Karnataka.

Mr Nanjegowda further made an appeal to the people of all the basin states that they should not get carried away by vested political interests regarding the settlement of water sharing. He said that this was the right time to create a harmonious atmosphere so that the issue could be sorted outside the courts and in an amicable way.

The party’s central leadership, which had specifically instructed its state units and state leaders that they should exercise restraint on their expressions on allies, is declining to comment on Mr Nanjegowda’s statement today.

Mr Sharma, who acted today as the BJP’s official spokesman, evaded or circumvented newspersons' pointed and sharp questions on Ms Jayalalitha’s threat.

To a question on the subject, Mr Sharma quipped that there were threats from the AIADMK, Shiromani Akali Dal,Trinamool Congress and the Samata Party but "no party has withdrawn support". Mr Sharma also tried to deflect the issue by launching an attack on the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He said that she should concentrate on mending her own house first before trying to topple the government.

In an indirect reference to Mrs Gandhi, Mr Sharma said that ever since the leadership of the Congress has been passed into "inexperienced hands", it is "hurting the Congress and the country".

On the earlier threats from these parties, the BJP’s usual refrain during the past two months has been that "we don’t join issue with our allies publicly".

Mr Nanjegowda’s tough posture on Ms Jayalalitha "cannot be and should not be seen in isolation", a BJP leader said on conditions of anonymity. "This is power politics and in this power game, such posturing is often done to achieve some objectives", he said adding, "After all, Ms Jayalalitha has also taken her stand keeping her political constituency in view".