NDA meet put off as Sena men play truant

NDA meet put off as Sena men play truant
DEVESH KUMAR

NEW DELHI, JULY 24: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's health became the subject of intense speculation again today after BJP spokesperson Venkaiah Naidu announced that this evening's meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parliamentary party stood cancelled because the PM has a ``throat infection''.

While PMO sources rushed to clarify that Vajpayee fulfilled all his public engagements through the day, the speculation was fuelled by the fact that the PM did not speak during the obituary references in the Lok Sabha for the late Union minister and Congress leader, Rajesh Pilot.

Later it became apparent that the NDA meeting was called off at the last moment because the Shiv Sena announced that it would not attend. This only deepened the mystery behind Naidu's announcement about the PM's indisposition.

Curiously, Vajpayee sat in the Lok Sabha throughout the obituary references but the tributes on behalf of the Government came from Home Minister L K Advani.

PMO sources offered a rather weak explanation, saying since Vajpayee had already paid his tributes to Pilot when the Congress leader died, he felt he should leave the floor for Advani in Parliament. Veteran parliamentarians, however, saw the omission as highly unusual since it is customary for the Prime Minister to speak on such occasions, particularly when it concerns a senior political leader.

Significantly, no date has been fixed for the postponed NDA meeting, indicating that the crisis gripping the BJP-Sena relations has not been resolved yet.

``It was decided that we will participate in the parliamentary proceedings, but we will not take part in the NDA parliamentary party meeting,'' Shiv Sena parliamentary party leader Anant Geete told The Indian Express after the meeting, which was attended by 16 of the 20 MPs.

The party's three representatives in the Vajpayee Government -- Manohar Joshi, Suresh Prabhu and Balashaeb Vikhe Patil -- continue to cool their heels in Mumbai. Asked when were they likely to resume their duties, Geete replied: ``It depends on the situation in Maharashtra.''

At the Sena parliamentary party meeting, two shades of opinion were expressed on its strategy for the ongoing monsoon session. While a section wanted the party to boycott the proceedings in the two Houses till the crisis was resolved, the dominant feeling was that the question hour in the Upper House -- the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after paying homage to Pilot -- should be disrupted.

The Sena MPs are learnt to have contacted Uddhav Thackeray who, in turn, reportedly got in touch with Bal Thackeray. The latter advised them not to do anything which would precipitate matters.

``We finally decided to participate in the proceedings of the two Houses. But if the Congress or any other Opposition party rakes up the issue, we'll hit back with venom,'' Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam asserted.