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Fernandes may become target of Jaya's ire

George Iype in New Delhi

All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha began her five-day visit to New Delhi today by attacking the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government for dismissing Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat.

The emergency meeting of the co-ordination committee of the coalition partners called by the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership on Saturday is expected to be stormy as Jayalalitha is all set to raise the matter of Bhagwat's dismissal and other issues.

Sensing that Jayalalitha's diatribe against the government could continue over the next four days, Prime Minister Vajpayee is taking all steps to ensure that the Bhagwat issue does not become a chink in the BJP's armour while defending the coalition's performance.

BJP managers fear the AIADMK, in consultation with the Congress and the Left parties, will also raise the demand for an inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into Bhagwat's dismissal. They are unsure how to respond if an important ally like the AIADMK puts forward such a demand.

Thus, Vajpayee has asked Defence Minister George Fernandes "to appraise the coalition partners about the reasons and circumstances that led to Bhagwat's dismissal," BJP sources said.

BJP politicians said Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani would separately meet Jayalalitha to sort out her demands.

That the prime minister wants to pacify the AIADMK supremo during her stay in Delhi was made clear when he sent two senior BJP politicians -- party vice-presidents Krishan Lal Sharma and K Jana Krishnamurthy -- to receive her at the airport.

AIADMK politicians disclosed that while Jayalalitha has not taken any decision to reconsider her support to the BJP-led coalition, for several strategic reasons, she has made up her mind to target Fernandes.

The defence minister, against whom Bhagwat and the Opposition have made allegations of kickbacks in an arms deal, is the chairman of the co-ordination committee and one of Vajpayee's key advisers in running the government over the past year.

Jayalalitha, however, wants to expose his supposed links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and other militant groups.

AIADMK sources in Delhi said she would take up with Vajpayee his defence minister's reported role in facilitating the shipping of arms by the Tigers through Indian waters. She may even demand his ouster for his alleged involvement with the LTTE.

Jayalalitha's decision to take up with Vajpayee some of the coalition members's alleged affinity with the LTTE is politically significant for two reasons. One, LTTE activity is an emotive issue in her home state Tamil Nadu. And Jayalalitha hopes to reap rich dividends in the state on the issue.

Ever since the BJP came to power, reports have often appeared of Fernandes instructing the Coast Guard to reduce their vigil in the Palk Straits against the infiltration of LTTE activists.

"Jayalalitha will discuss with the prime minister the sympathy that Fernandes and other coalition partners like MDMK leader V Gopalasamy have been showing to the LTTE," an AIADMK politician told Rediff On The NeT.

Gopalasamy, who broke away from the AIADMK-led front last year, remains an ally of the Vajpayee-led coalition. He has been a staunch supporter of the Eelam movement in Sri Lanka. Among the guests at the marriage of his son in December were Advani, Fernandes, Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's parents.

"We want to ensure that the prime minister throws out of the coalition those who have been hobnobbing with LTTE activists in Tamil Nadu and across India," the AIADMK politician said.

Two, many Congress and AIADMK politicians believe if there is one thing common between Jayalalitha and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, it is their antipathy to the LTTE.

While Sonia is yet to confirm her attendance at the tea-party being hosted for Jayalalitha by Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy on Monday, many believe one subject of discussion at the possible meeting between them could be the LTTE's activities in Tamil Nadu.

Both the AIADMK and Congress have so far declined to spell out the political significance of Jayalalitha's visit to Delhi. But BJP politicians are keeping their fingers crossed, as a tete-a-tete between the two women has the potential of changing the shape of the Vajpayee-led coalition.

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