Noting that the AIADMK was not in agreement with any proposal which would erode the secular credentials of the Constitution, Jayalalitha in a statement urged Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to ensure that ``such unseemly situations are avoided in future and that the National Agenda for governance is strictly adhered to by all Ministries in the administration.''

``The whole episode leaves a pertinent question hanging in the air as to whether the Minister receives directives and inspiration from sources other than the Prime Minister,'' she added.

``Though Joshi had agreed to remove the controversial items from the agenda of the conference and a proposed non-official presentation by P D Chitlangia of the`Friends of Tribal Societies' to present a set of recommendations for reforming the education system in the country was called off, it is clear that the last-minute decision was due to compulsion and certainly not due to Joshi seeing reason,'' Jayalalitha said.

``The voices of protest from several State Governments were strong and there was no alternative but to delete the `notes' prepared by a `group of experts' from the formal agenda,'' she said.

She said the Government has, wittingly or unwittingly, pushed itself into an embarrassing situation wherein the Punjab Education Minister of the Akali Dal, a partner of the ruling coalition at the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh Education Minister of the Telugu Desam Party, which also supports the BJP-led Government at the Centre, had to voice their stiff opposition to the move by the Ministry.

It was regrettable that the Ministry attempted to sneak the agenda through despite stiff opposition from various State Governments and political parties. ``The BJP, thedominant party in the coalition, should realise that the criticism that it has no people's mandate to push through its own controversial agenda is not entirely devoid of validity,'' she said.

``The entire fiasco could have been avoided had the Ministry stuck to the National Agenda or had the proposal been discussed in the co-ordination committee of the allies,'' she said, adding, ``the National Agenda for governance, adopted by all parties of the coalition, also puts all such controversial issues on the backburner.''