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Dump Jaya, Jethmalani tells PM

Union Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani has publicly advised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to dump All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha. He said there was no legal basis for the dismissal of the M Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu as demanded by her.

As the war over the television channels between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Tamil Nadu ally hotted up, Jethmalani made his strongest-ever remark by saying that the BJP-led coalition government could survive without the AIADMK.

''The prime minister should not hesitate to tell Jayalalitha that enough is enough. If she wants, she can leave the government. The government will survive even without her,'' he told a private television channel that is bound to have repercussions in Madras.

Asked how the government could hope to survive without Jayalalitha's support, Jethmalani said, ''Even without Jayalalitha, there are enough MPs in Parliament who will support us and will want this government to continue. She should be under no illusion that this government is only dependent on her.''

According to Jethmalani, Jayalalitha was acting at the behest of Janata Party chief, Dr Subramanian Swamy. ''She is not a free agent -- she is clearly someone who is acting under duress. It is Swamy who is pushing her into making all these wild demands,'' he said.

According to Jethmalani, the Vajpayee government had allowed Jayalalitha to get the impression that she was indispensable. ''In any coalition government, we have to make some compromises and some concessions. But that does not mean that one just stands by and allows someone to say whatever s/he feels like,'' he said.

Jethmalani took another dig at Jayalalitha by referring to her stint in jail. He said he stood by his earlier statement in Bangalore that those who had gone to jail themselves should show some humility when they come out of it.

''All I am saying is that one should be careful before pointing fingers at others. This type of low-level politics must stop now,'' he said.

The minister said he was against the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu government. ''I do not see any legal basis whatsoever for the Karunanidhi government to be removed,'' he said.

Jethmalani is one of the three 'tainted' ministers the AIADMK leader wants Vajpayee to drop from his Cabinet. But Jethmalani said there was no question of his quitting since there were no charges against him.

UNI

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