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Chautala withdraws support to government

The eleven-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was pushed to the brink today with the four-member Indian National Lok Dal withdrawing support to it.

The decision to withdraw support was announced by INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala after a 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee.

The strength of the coalition government in the 545-member Lok Sabha has now been reduced to 273, a majority of just one. One seat is vacant.

But Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Kumaramangalam claimed that the BJP and its allies commanded a strength of 286 which has now come down to 282, still a comfortable majority.

He asserted that the government is unperturbed by the INLD's action and has, in fact, taken a decision not to bow to unreasonable demands from its constituents.

Chautala left room for manoeuvre when he said the letter of withdrawal of support will be submitted to President K R Narayanan only on Friday, February 19.

The BJP, relying on this, hopes it will be able to persuade Chautala to reconsider his decision.

Chautala said his party is withdrawing support because of the government's refusal to roll back the increase in prices of essential commodities, urea and cooking gas.

He took strong exception to Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's remark that even smaller allies with two and three MPs are bullying the government with frequent threats of withdrawal of support. If the government does not want to listen to small partners, it should not seek their support, he retorted.

Referring to his meeting with the prime minister, Chautala said Vajpayee had expressed helplessness in rolling back the price hike.

Lashing out at the government, Chautala said it does not mind increasing the burden on the pauperised farmers by increasing urea prices even though the hike will fetch only Rs2,000 million.

Similarly, the increase in prices of essential commodities sold through the public distribution system and cooking gas will save only about Rs3,000 million for the government while the country had saved nearly Rs22,000 million from the fall in petroleum prices in the international market.

"We cannot support a government which does not care for the farmers, the common man and the working people," Chautala said. He said the Vajpayee government is working in the same manner as the Congress, and this has forced his party to sever its ties with the ruling coalition.

Chautala accused the government of adopting a "dual policy" at every step. It put Bihar under President's rule on the basis of two violent incidents perpetrated by the Ranvir Sena, but is not ready to adopt the same yardstick in Haryana since it is a partner in the Bansi Lal government. The Haryana government has failed to check the violence that has spilled over to Delhi and is riddled with corruption and misadministration, he claimed.

Actually, the Vajpayee government did not do anything worthwhile excepting "placating" All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader J Jayalalitha to ensure her continued support, he said.

The government resolved the Cauvery river waters dispute just to please Jayalalitha, but has not bothered to resolve the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal issue even though the BJP is a partner in the ruling coalitions in both Punjab and Haryana, the states party to the dispute, he said.

Chautala accused the government of giving the people only slogans. It has fared no better than earlier Congress governments, he said.

UNI

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