NDA reaffirms faith in PM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 1. The National Democratic Alliance today expressed ``unqualified faith and trust'' in the leadership of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, who later described as a ``closed chapter'' his offer of resignation made yesterday. However, the conspicuous absence of the Shiv Sena at the NDA meeting was a clear signal that the problem of cohesiveness in the ruling alliance was far from over.

By evening, the NDA convener and trouble-shooter, Mr. George Fernandes, had rushed to Mumbai in an effort to pacify the Sena chief, Mr. Balasaheb Thackeray, and try to prevent any unpleasant outburst at a press conference scheduled to be addressed by him tomorrow noon. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders here said efforts were being made to ``persuade'' Mr. Thackeray to cancel his press conference.

Not withstanding the re-dedication of the NDA to work as a ``solid phalanx'' under Mr. Vajpayee, expressed through a resolution adopted during the meeting at 7, Race Course Road, conflicting signals came throughout the day from the Sena, whose MP, Mr. Sanjay Nirupam, had presumably caused the anguish and pain to Mr. Vajpayee and triggered his offer to quit office by attacking the PMO in connection with the Unit trust of India scandal.

Sena MPs' response

The meeting began 30 minutes late as efforts were being made to get the Shiv Sena chief to send a representative. Although Mr. Fernandes later told reporters he had been personally assured by Mr. Thackeray over phone that Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Power Minister, would attend, there was no sign of him. (Mr. Prabhu is reported to have said that Mr. Thackeray had asked him to stay away). And Sena MPs spread the word that henceforth they would not open their mouths in Parliament, only their Ministers would speak to respond to specific questions when absolutely necessary, an expression of anger at the effort by the BJP to ``silence'' criticism by their MPs.

That all was not well within the NDA was clear. Mr. Vajpayee is reported to have expressed concern about the lack of cohesion in the NDA and distress over the irresponsible behaviour of some members. He was anguished that members of parties which were part of the Union Cabinet chose to speak out of turn and criticise the Government's decisions when they were part of the decision making process. Those who cannot maintain discipline ``should think about where they want to be (`weh apne bare mein sochen')'' Mr. Vajpayee said, hinting that they could go.

If the Prime Minister did not make himself crystal clear, Mr. Fernandes who later briefed reporters did. He said those in the Government should not go out and criticise government decisions ``and if they do, they are free to go.''

Code of conduct

The one-page NDA resolution decided to formulate a code of conduct applicable to all member-parties ``to ensure adherence by all to the canons of coalition politics''. Mr. Sikander Bakht (BJP), Mr. Murasoli Maran (DMK), Mr. Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD) and Mr. Fernandes (Samata Party) have been asked to draft the code within the next 8 to 10 days. The resolution said the NDA would ``not allow the opposition to make political capital out of this development.'' And although ``this development'' was caused by the ruling alliance and by Mr. Vajpayee's resignation offer, the NDA did not lose an opportunity to tell the Opposition ``to allow meaningful debates in Parliament'' and ``not to disturb its smooth functioning''. And through all this, what went practically unnoticed was the attendance of the PMK's Mr. E. Ponnuswamy at the meeting.

Later, Mr. Fernandes gave the certificate: the PMK was part of the NDA, although Mr. Vajpayee had said two days ago that a formal decision had not yet been taken.

Nirupam spoke on his own: Thackeray

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