Ball set rolling for govt formation
TDP pledges support to NDA
Tribune News Service and agencies

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 — The ball was today set rolling for the formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government with its major allies the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Trinamool Congress conveying to President K.R. Narayanan their support, but there was uncertainty whether the TDP would join it to impart a feeling of stability.

Fresh from their victory, NDA leaders met at the Prime Minister’s residence for the first time after elections and decided that newly-elected MPs would meet here on Sunday for formally choosing Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as their leader.

Amidst reports of haggling by constituents over sharing of ministerial berths, the alliance leaders expected Mr Vajpayee to be invited by the President to form his government and the swearing-in was likely to be early next week.

Sources rejected reports of allocation of one ministerial berth for every five or six MPs uniformly, adding importance of the portfolio would depend on factors like strength of the parties and calibre of the prospective ministers.

The 29-member TDP, the second largest component in the NDA, today sent letters of support to Mr Vajpayee and the President of its decision to support the NDA government.

This was followed by a similar expression of backing from the Trinamool Congress, which also decided to join the government. The National Conference, which fought the BJP in the elections in Jammu and Kashmir also announced its intention to join the government.

However, TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu was non-committal whether his party would join the government.

Alliance sources said efforts were on to rope TDP into the government to give that extra sense of confidence and stability in the context of troubles experienced by the outgoing regime.

NDA convenor, George Fernandes told newspersons after the one-hour meeting presided over by the Prime Minister that the NDA would meet again on October 10 in Central Hall of Parliament to elect its leader and would convey the decision to the President on October 11.

There were no hiccups in at meeting with leaders of 18 of the 20 alliance partners — representatives of the Mizo National Front and the Sikkim Democratic Front could not attend the meeting — joining it to commend their victory.Mr Fernandes said the NDA would welcome all its partners to be part of the new government. He said there was no cause for concern about the TDP being non-committal on joining the government and pointed out that the party had been the mainstay of the last Vajpayee government despite extending support from outside.

On the formation of the next Council of Ministers, Mr Fernandes said "ministry-making was something the Prime Minister will engage in."

At today’s meeting, the BJP was represented by the party President, Mr Kushabau Thakre, Mr L.K.Advani, Mr Sikander Bakht, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Pramod Mahajan and Mr P.R.Kumaramangalam.

The Biju Janata Dal was represented by Mr Naveen Patnaik, the MDMK by Mr Vaiko, the Manipur State Congress Party by Mr Chauba Singh, the PMK by Dr S. Ramadoss, the Janata Dal (United) by Mr Ramakrishna Hegde, the DMK by Mr M. Karunanidhi and Mr Murasoli Maran, the Shiv Sena by Mr Suresh Prabhu, the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress by Mr K. Ramamurthi and the Lok Tantrik Congress by Mr Naresh Aggarwal.

The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and the Union Food Minister, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, represented the SAD while Mr Om Prakash Chautala represented the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Mr Sukh Ram came on behalf of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC).

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and the president of the National Conference (NC), Dr Farooq Abdullah, could not attend the meeting as he was indisposed. He had sent the NC Rajya Sabha member, Mr Sharif-ud-din Shariq, to represent the party. The NC incidentally is not a member of the NDA and the BJP had contested against it in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Trinamool Congress, led by Ms Mamata Banerjee, which had made known its intention to join the Vajpayee government during its poll campaign, was represented by Mr Bikram Sarkar.

Mr Fernandes said the NDA leaders noted the fact that the alliance, under the leadership of Mr Vajpayee, had secured a spectacular victory by getting 300 seats. He said elections to four constituencies in Bihar and one in Assam were yet to be held and the alliance was confident of winning them, too.

The meeting recorded appreciation for the leadership provided by Mr Vajpayee during the campaign and the efforts he put in to bring about the magnificent victory.

It also noted that it was after 28 years that an incumbent Prime Minister had received a renewed mandate.

It noted that on a broad average the alliance had scored victories on 60 per cent of the seats it contested and today the NDA represented the entirety of India with almost all states and sections of society rallying behind it.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister also released a statement appealing to all parties to forget the acrimony generated during the election campaign and accept the people’s verdict which showed that they wanted a stable polity.

"It is now the responsibility of the government as well as the Opposition to honour this verdict," Mr Vajpayee said, while thanking the people for reposing their faith in the NDA.

"The clear message of the verdict of 1999 is that people are looking forward to a stable polity to ensure rapid socio-economic development. It is now the responsibility of the government as well as the Opposition to honour this mandate", he said.

He said now that the elections were over, it was time to settle down so that "we can return to addressing crucial issues facing the nation".