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Jaya's MPs will boycott Parliament

© Imtiaz Maqbool

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham members of both Houses of Parliament are most likely to boycott the Budget session commencing on Friday.

The four-member Pattali Makkal Katchi may also join the boycott, pending a final decision on the future of the alliance. Indications are that the AIADMK parliamentary group is likely to meet in Madras either on Friday or on Saturday, to take stock of the evolving political situation, and help party chief J Jayalalitha take a decision on the future of their ties with the A B Vajpayee government. Parliamentary group leader Sedapatti R Muthiah confirmed the possibility of a meeting to the media at the AIADMK headquarters in Madras on Thursday afternoon, but would not say beyond that.

Though a section of the media has said that Ranjan Bhattacharya, foster son-in-law of Prime Minister Vajpayee, who holds no party or government post, will be in Madras on Friday for a meeting with Jayalalitha, no confirmation is available as yet. Neither the BJP leaders in Madras and Delhi, nor senior AIADMK leaders were aware of such a meeting, though sources claim that the "information came from the highest persona involved". If true, it could be a letdown for Jayalalitha, in the BJP's eyes.

According to sources, the AIADMK has not exactly given up the earlier strategy of withdrawing its ministers first, and then its support to the Vajpayee government in stages. "Only the time-schedule has been pushed back, but we are not sure when the clock will start ticking again," says the source.

"A lot will depend on what the BJP has to say, and to offer," he says, adding, "The AIADMK MPs in particular are being detained at Madras only to guarantee against 'poaching' when Parliament takes up the Finance Bill and the Budget for passage."

According to PMK sources, the party is weighing its future options still, before taking a final decision."We can afford to wait for a while without antagonising the AIADMK, before we take a decision," says the source, adding, "We do not want to be left in the lurch, like the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazagham ally, should the AIADMK patch up with the BJP, or their ongoing tussle leads to fresh polls." He, however, feels the party would still opt for the BJP if the continuance of the Vajpayee government could be ensured, whatever the AIADMK decision.

In an unrelated but a possibly influencing development, the Central Bureau of Investigation announced on Friday, the seizure of a bank locker held by R Bhaskaran, a kin of Sasikala Natarajan, Jayalalitha's confidante. Bhaskaran, working at the Reserve Bank of India in Madras, has been charged with holding 80 gold biscuits valued at Rs 5 million in the locker, and the seizure was effected on June 24.