New Delhi, August 16
Even as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has exuded confidence about defeating the Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion convincingly in the Lok Sabha next week, the question of the DMK remaining in their fold has surfaced, with the party raising eyebrows on the reported move to elicit the AIADMK’s support.

At an NDA meeting held here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to discuss the strategy to defeat the no-confidence motion, it was decided to field seven or eight senior ministers, including Defence Minister George Fernandes, who is facing an Opposition boycott on his return to the Cabinet without being cleared in the Tehelka expose, to speak against the motion.

It was also decided that a meeting of the NDA MPs will be held on August 18 ahead of the debate on the no-confidence motion. Mr Vajpayee will intervene in the debate.

According to sources, during the meeting, DMK leader and Union Minister T.R. Baalu expressed the party’s displeasure on the reported move to seek the support of the AIADMK when the DMK was supporting the NDA.

“When we are supporting the coalition and when there is a comfortable majority, why the support of the AIADMK, which is not supporting the government, is being sought,” Mr Baalu is understood to have asked NDA leaders.

Soon after the meeting, Mr Baalu left for Chennai, apparently to brief the DMK chief.

The AIADMK, which has 11 MPs in the Lok Sabha, has been supporting the NDA government and the BJP on many of its ideological issues that has already led to differences between the DMK and the BJP.

According to the sources, Mr Baalu also raised the issue of the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu filing cases against Mr Karunanidhi and some other political leaders under ESMA for allegedly instigating the recent state government employees’ strike.

However, the meeting, attended by top leaders of the NDA coalition partners, unanimously resolved to take on the challenge unitedly and turn the “no-confidence motion” into an opportunity to rebuke the Opposition and project the good work done by the government.

The NDA leaders reiterated their support to the Prime Minister in defeating the motion.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which are supporting the Vajpayee government, have also assured the Prime Minister to vote against the motion.

After the nearly two-hour meeting, NDA convener and Defence Minister George Fernandes told newspersons that if the AIADMK wanted to support the government, it could do so. “If necessary, they (AIADMK) will be approached”.

He tried to downplay the issue, saying that there was “no conflict of interest” (in getting the support of the two contending rivals in Tamil Nadu).

Describing the Opposition-sponsored motion as “baseless”, Mr Fernandes asserted that he would definitely participate in the debate. “It has been quite a while since I spoke in the House,” he remarked.

“I am guilty of what? What crime have I committed?”, he said, when asked whether he held himself responsible for the challenge being faced by the government from the Opposition.

BJP spokesperson V.K. Malhotra said the NDA would defeat the motion without any difficulty as it had the backing of 323 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha. This strength of the NDA excludes the AIADMK.

Mr Fernandes said all constituents of the NDA had issued a three-line whip to their members to vote against the motion.