Swamy bolts from the BJP stable

"The BJP is only nominally a political party but in reality it is the political front of the RSS," said Swamy, who has been campaigning against the government ever since he was refused a berth in the ministry. He told a press conference here that the BJP-led front’s 40-day rule had already bared enough the "sinister burrowing" into administrative and government framework of the extra-constitutional authority of the RSS.

Swamy said, "I shall not endeavour to topple the BJP-led front at the Centre unless I have the express clearance from Jayalalitha; that it is in the interest of Tamil Nadu and the nation to do so and themoment is appropriate."

He said the "unilateral decision" to jettison him from the coordination committee of the BJP and its allies on a lame excuse would now make him a formal member of the national opposition to BJP.

Swamy claimed that during his meeting with Jayalalitha at Chennai on Monday, she had expressed surprise over his exclusion from the committee. Vajpayee’s emissary Jaswant Singh did not even once raise this subject during his meeting with her on Saturday, he said.

The BJP’s official reaction to Swamy’s plans of a front against the saffron coalition was "no objection". Expressing the party’s stand, BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu said today that the party had "no objection" to Swamy severing ties. "Swamy remained absent during the vote of confidence; he complained to the President about our Union ministers; he openly criticised our party president L K Advani; and now he says he wants to form a secular front. We have no objection to him parting ways with us," Naidu said.

On hisproposed new front, Swamy said he met several leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and discussed the current political situation. Swamy got cracking today in his effort to form his "secular patriotic front" as he had an hour-long meeting with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Janata Party leader also talked on phone with the Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad in Patna, JP sources said, adding that Swamy would visit Patna on May first to meet him.

The Congress in turn sought to keep distance from the "secular and patriotic" front proposed to be floated by Swamy. "At the moment, we are on our own", the party spokesman, Ajit Jogi said.

Replying to questions, he said the party will provide constructive opposition and cooperation to the government and will take "no initiative" to destablise the government.

Meanwhile, Swamy berated the RSS saying Vajpayee was compelled to praise the organisation in Parliament and appoint Governorswith no other qualifications other than their membership of RSS. He criticised Home Minister L K Advani for talking about presidential constitution with list system of elections saying this was barely different from what Adolf Hitler did in Germany in 1932.