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President wants proof

R R Nair in New Delhi

The text of the President's letter Dear Mr Vajpayee, The notification containing the results of the 12th general election was formally presented to me a little while ago. I note that you have been elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party. Please accept my felicitations. In so far as yours is the single largest party in the Lok Sabha and the largest pre-election alliance, I request you to let me know whether you are able and willing to form a stable government which can secure the confidence of the House. With regards, K R Narayanan

President Kocheril Raman Narayanan has asked Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee to submit documentary proof that he can form a stable government.

Vajpayee met the President at 2000 hours on Tuesday and spoke to him for 35 minutes. Vajpayee told the President that he had the numbers to form a government.

After the meeting, Vajpayee said the President had sought documentary proof of the BJP's majority in the House. The BJP, he added, has already got letters of support from its allies, including the Trinamul Congress and its backers in Tamil Nadu. "We did not think it was necessary to send these letters to the President

The BJP awaited the President's call ever since the three election commissioners met him at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday evening.

Kushabhau Thakre, the BJP's senior-most general secretary, told Rediff On The NeT before Vajpayee met the President, "Yes, we are aware of the peculiar wording of the letter. Just wait till 8 pm. Atalji is meeting the President and the matter will be discussed and resolved then."

The President's insistence on proof of majority has put the BJP in a fix. The party expected tacit support from some MPs who would have abstained during the confidence vote.

Submitting documentary evidence would mean organising written commitments from all groups of MPs who intend to support the minority government. Among them is the Telugu Desam Party, which has not publicly taken a stand on voting for or against the BJP.

Another interesting aspect in the President's letter is the reference to the 'largest pre-election alliance'. This is the first time that a constitutional authority has attached more significance to a pre-poll alliance rather a post-election grouping cobbled together to come to power.

Vajpayee reiterated that his party has the support of 252 members, the number of MPs the BJP's pre-poll alliance have in the 12th Lok Sabha. It does not include the 5 North-East MPs, the 4 Haryana Lok Dal MPs or the Independents who have subsequently offered support to the BJP-led alliance.

The President took hardly half-an-hour to send the letter to Vajpayee after Chief Election Commissioner Dr Manohar Singh Gill and the other two election commissioners, G V G Krishnamurthy and Lyngdoh, met him at 1700 hours and presented him with the official results of the 12th general election. The meeting lasted 30 minutes. Half-an-hour later, the President sent Vajpayee the letter.

Earlier, Vajpayee said his government would not be 'unnecessarily large'.

''Since most of the newly elected MPs have gone home for Holi, it would be in the best interest of all that the new government is formed after the festival, which falls on March 13,'' the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said.

He was confident that the Jayalalitha-led All India Dravida Munnetra Kazagham would be part of his government "at a later date". ''We want her to join the government now. But her problems are genuine and we hope she will cross the hurdles soon and join the government,'' he said.

Vajpayee had a hectic day with scores of allies and Independents calling on him for consultations.

After his meeting with Vajpayee, former Union home minister Buta Singh said he would extend 'full support' to a BJP government, but will not be part of it. ''I will sit as an Independent in the House,'' the former Congressman, who won election as an Independent from Jalore in Rajasthan, said.

Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee also called on Vajpayee after meeting BJP president Lal Kishinchand Advani, and extended full support for the five year term from outside.

The Biju Janata Dal group, led by Naveen Patnaik, separately met Vajpayee and handed a copy of the letter they had written to the President extending 'support from within.'

Additional reportage: UNI

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