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NDA does not see any crisis

By Our New Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI DEC. 20 . The Vajpayee Government and its National Democratic Alliance managers do not appear to be particularly bothered by the DMK's decision to pull its Ministers out of the coalition, though efforts will be made to make the party do a rethink. The NDA convener, George Fernandes, contacted the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi.

The DMK Ministers, T.R. Baalu and A. Raja, who arrived here tonight said they would submit their resignations to the Prime Minister tomorrow.

The view is that the decision in no way creates any crisis for the Vajpayee Government. The DMK has not severed its fraternal ties with the NDA, at least for now; and even the worst case scenario of losing 11 DMK votes in the Lok Sabha is not going to vitally affect the stability of the coalition. The establishment view is that the "Atal factor" is a dominant political reality and, given the equation in Tamil Nadu, it would not be all that easy for the DMK to part company with the NDA.

The NDA leaders, especially of the BJP, are keen on remaining respectful of an ally who had stood by the party at a difficult time. The public posture is one of regret, even though in private the view remains that Mr. Karunanidhi has only sought time to sort out his internal problem of how to fill the vacuum caused by the death of the Union Minister, Murasoli Maran.

Describing the development as "unfortunate", the BJP asserted that it would not affect the stability of the NDA Government. The party spokesman, Prakash Javdekar, said that the issue would come up for discussion during the BJP office-bearers' meeting on December 25.

Reacting to the DMK charge that the move to pull out from the NDA Government was prompted by BJP leaders' statements, Mr. Javdekar said the BJP did not subscribe to the view.

Prakash Karat, politburo member of the CPI(M), said the developments indicated that the DMK faced a problem in going along with the BJP's communal agenda. "If it is taken to the logical conclusion it will be a welcome step," he said.

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