PM defers Cabinet expansion

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (UNI) — In a dramatic development, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today decided to defer the proposed Cabinet expansion till after the winter session of Parliament beginning on November 30.

The expansion was put off under pressure from the Akali Dal which wanted the exercise to be deferred till the Udham Singh Nagar issue was settled, party sources said.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met the Prime Minister this afternoon and urged him to defer the expansion as induction of any Akali leader at this stage would be construed as a compromise on the Udham Singh Nagar issue on which the Akali Dal had threatened to withdraw support to the government.

Significantly, a three-member committee, formed following the Akali leaders’ discussions with Mr Vajpayee yesterday, was directed to submit its report on the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed Uttaranchal state by November 30.

No fresh date has yet been finalised for the expansion, BJP sources said.

Official sources, however, said the co-ordination committee of the coalition government will meet tomorrow, as scheduled.

Highly placed sources in the BJP alliance said the expansion was deferred following differences between the coalition partners and a clamour for ministerial berths in the BJP.

While the TMC had declined to join the government, the AIADMK, though keen to have three more ministerial berths, was understood to be insisting on a review of portfolios allotted to its state allies.

The sources said the Samata Party was demanding four more berths in addition to the two it already had. The party has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The Biju Janata Dal was willing to settle for two more berths.

There are around two dozen ministerial aspirants in the BJP, they said.

Earlier, BJP spokesman K.L. Sharma had said the Council of Ministers was most likely to be expanded on Saturday and the co-ordination committee would meet to discuss and finalise the expansion process.

AIADMK leader Jayalalitha had a preliminary round of discussions in this regard with the Prime Minister and is expected to meet Mr Vajpayee again before the co-ordination committee meeting tomorrow.

The much-awaited expansion had looked a possibility after Mr Vajpayee was understood to have initiated moves to rope in all coalition partners in an effort to get the much-needed stability for his government.

The SAD has been raising the demand for more berths in the Council of Ministers, the sources said adding that the SGPC President, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, has made it clear that his supporters like, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, must be given a place in the Cabinet.

Similarly, the Samata Party President and Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, is also pressing for berths more than his party’s strength in Parliament.

Jaya invites BJP to tea party

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (UNI) — In a conciliatory gesture, reversing its earlier decision, the AIADMK extended an invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party to the much-publicised allies' tea party tomorrow.

But the party's Tamil Nadu allies were yet to receive an invitation till late tonight. The AIADMK had earlier kicked up a controversy when it had decided to keep the BJP out from the meeting on the ground that it was a mainline party and hence it was not extended an invitation. A highly placed AIADMK source said the invitation was sent to party President Kushabhau Thakre today.

Petroleum Minister Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy told UNI that neither he nor the PMK President Ramadoss had received any invite for the meeting. The relations between the AIADMK and its Tamil Nadu allies remained strained since both Mr Ramamurthy and Mr Ramadoss did not call on Ms Jayalalitha. Sources said both of them sought appointment with her but the meeting did not materialise till late in the evening.

Earlier in the day, the AIADMK supremo called on Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani and discussed the proposed Cabinet expansion and the situation in Tamil Nadu.

Later in the evening, she drove down to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and called on President K.R. Narayanan. Defence Minister George Fernandes called on Ms Jayalalitha separately during the course of the day.

The relations between the AIADMK and its Tamil Nadu allies have remained strained since August 13 when they declined to toe Ms Jayalalitha's decision to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government. The allies MDMK, PMK and Tamiazhaga Rajiv Congress, which have eight MPs in the Lok Sabha, made it clear that their support to the BJP government continued irrespective of the AIADMK's stand.

The MDMK organised a rally recently in Chennai which was attended among others by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, the AIADMK supremo chose to hold her party's rally at Tiruchirapalli the same day.

Meeting with Badal
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had a meeting with the AIADMK leader, Ms Jayalalitha, here this evening.

Party sources said Mr Badal called on Ms Jayalalitha as he was not likely to be present at the meeting of BJP allies that the AIADMK chief has called tomorrow.

Mr Badal, however, is expected to take part in co-ordination committee meeting called by the Prime Minister tomorrow.