The letter, signed by Vajpayee's principal secretary Brajesh Mishra, virtually asks Jayalalitha to back her charge or own up to making false accusations. In either event, the government is headed for trouble and the tenor of the BJP-AIADMK fight indicates that a patch-up is remote.

Said Mishra's letter, copies of which were faxed to newspaper offices: ``I am directed by the Prime Minister to draw your kind attention to news reports containing allegations of financial misconduct by persons very close to the Prime Minister. The news reports attribute these allegationsto you.

``It is the Prime Minister's view that if these news reports accurately represent the views of a senior alliance partner, then they merit immediate attention. Therefore, I am directed by the Prime Minister to request you to please let me have at your early convenience all evidence in respect of the allegations. I am sure you will agree that as reports have appeared in the press about these allegations, it is only proper that this is also released to the press.''

This is the closest the Prime Minister has so far got to doubting the veracity of any ally's statement and given Jayalalitha's temperament, the AIADMK is expected to take it very seriously. Already, Jayalalitha has made umpteen threats to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government but this time, things might turn out for real.

Vajpayee's response comes after Jayalalitha's letter to him denying she had anything to do with the transfer of former Enforcement Director M.K. Bezbaruah and former Revenue Secretary N.K. Singh among a host ofother transfers.

Jayalalitha's strong letter asked Vajpayee to reinstate the officials in their earlier posts with one crucial paragraph at the end. ``Javed Chaudhary, who has replaced NK Singh as Revenue Secretary, has harassed me and hounded several of my associates vindictively in the past. Hence, as far as I am concerned, it does not matter whether NK Singh or Javed Chaudhary is Revenue Secretary,'' she wrote. Topping all this came her charge that a powerful media baron paid a hefty bribe to someone very close to Vajpayee in the PMO to ensure the transfers.

The common feeling in the BJP is that its ties with the AIADMK have reached a dead-end and the BJP is preparing for the final break. The government today ruled out reinstating the transferred officials and one senior BJP leader admitted: ``Ours is now a relationship of compulsions. When Sonia Gandhi is ready, Jayalalitha will withdraw support. But until there is no divorce, the marriage goes on.''

Simultaneously, separate lines of communicationhave been opened with three of the AIADMK's allies, MDMK, PMK and TRC, to get their support even if the AIADMK withdraws from the coalition. The relationship has dipped to such a low that both sides have given up the the effort to maintain a facade. BJP leaders are now calling the AIADMK supremo ``perverse'' and ``impossible to deal with''.

``First she attacked Advani saying he was not fit to be Home Minister. Now she has levelled baseless allegations against the PM's confidants. If she directly attacks the PM, we might have to review the alliance ourselves,'' a senior leader said. ``Even the Opposition has not accused us of corruption. We feel that Jayalalitha is deliberately trying to provoke us into dropping her because she does not want to be accused of bringing down the government,'' he added. He said that Jayalalitha had not had the courtesy to send her letter to the PM before releasing it to the press. In fact, the PM is learnt to have received her letter only this afternoon, when Janarthanan calledon him.

BJP leaders feel Jayalalitha's latest offensive is out of pique. They claim she demanded her nominees be appointed as Enforcement Director, Revenue Secretary and Banking Secretary which was turned down. ``If we had agreed, it would have given her total financial control,'' a senior leader said. From the AIADMK's side, Personnel Minister KMR Janarthanan accused the government of sidetracking him while transferring Bezbaruah.

The BJP maintained it was not necessary to route transfers through the Personnel Minister and that the file had to be cleared only by the PM and Cabinet Secretary. Also criticising the Cauvery accord, which was cleared by the Supreme Court today, Janarthanan said this had ``diluted'' the role and function of the monitoring committee set up in 1993 following a demand by Jayalalitha.

Govt will survive, says Mahajan