While the BJP decided not to do business with Ramakrishna Hegde in Karnataka and his own party did not back him, Surjit Singh Barnala threatened to quit the Akali Dal if Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was inducted. George Fernandes did not insist on Hegde's inclusion in the government and the BJP wanted to teach him a lesson for thrusting the J H Patel faction of the Janata Dal on it. Dhindsa, a senior Akali Dal leader and RS MP, had been handed over the appointment letter on Wednesday morning at Punjab Bhawan. He was to be a Cabinet Minister. But the arrival of letter coincided with a threat from senior Akali Dal leader Surjit Singh Barnala.

Barnala told Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that if Dhindsa was included he would quit the party and consider joininghands with Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Barnala and Dhindsa are arch rivals and both hail from Sangrur. If Barnala ensured Dhindsa's defeat from Sangrur in the Assembly elections, Dhindsa's supporters did not work for Barnala this time. Barnala thought the rise of Dhindsa in Central politics would ensure his eclipse. He had registered the protest when he met Badal on Tuesday night. When this did not work, he conveyed his threat in the morning. Badal asked Dhindsa to rush to Kapurthala House, where the CM was staying, and told him that it would not be advisable to join the government as the Akali Dal was given Programme Implementation and not Agriculture which they wanted.

In the case of Hegde, it was decided by the BJP leadership that the J D(U)'s Bihar unit should be compensated and Hegde be cut to size. All senior JD(U) leaders from Bihar were not only included in the Cabinet but given plum portfolios. A top RSS leader told Vajpayee that ``the Ravana in Bihar has only been defeated. He has not been eliminated.We will fight the Congress alone in Karnataka.'' Vajpayee agreed and around midnight on Tuesday, Hegde's name was struck off. Fernandes was finally told about Hegde's exclusion around 10 pm, minutes after Advani left 7 Race Course Road.

But neither George Fernandes nor Sharad Yadav informed Hegde about his fate. Hegde was desperately trying to find out about his portfolio from George who told him that he would soon despatch Ram Vilas Paswan or Digvijay Singh to his residence. Jeevraj Alva, another Hegde loyalist, was also trying to find out about his boss' portfolio.