New Delhi, July 14: In a surprise move, the DMK on Monday threatened to pull out of the fledgling Gujral government, creating a fresh crisis for the United Front establishment even as it was still grappling with the vertical split in Janata Dal.

The move to pull out of the government and support it from outside was announced by DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Chennai, sending shockwaves among the United Front constituents across the country.

Within hours of the announcement, senior Front leaders began confabulations to tackle the situation.

Among those who were making frantic efforts to defuse the crisis included UF convenor and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, CPI(M) general secretary and steering committee member Harkishan Singh Surjeet and TMC chief GK Moopanar. Naidu and Surjeet reportedly spoke to Karunanidhi.

Though Moopanar had not directly involved himself in any open negotiations, sources said he sent feelers to his DMK counterpart not to rock the UF boat midstream.

After initial discussions among themselves, the Front constituents maintained that there was no danger to the survival of the Gujral government even if the DMK walked out. Much strength was lent by the Congress whose official spokesman Vithal Gadgil announced: "I want to state most emphatically that we will continue to support the Gujral government."

Karunanidhi, in his announcement, at Chennai said: "The DMK did not want to associate itself with those who wanted to fulfil their `personal ambitions' and with some parties which evolved their own common minimum programme." He went on to say that the very purpose for which the UF was founded had been defeated.

"The UF was an alliancae founded after Lok Sabha elections for fulfilling aspirations of the people and not an alliance for committing sati," he said.The DMK chief's reference was obviously to the pressure of left parties and others on prime minister Gujral to sack Rashtriya Janata Dal ministers at the centre after Laloo Yadav split the Janata Dal.

The Congress, on whose crutches the Gujral government stood so far, did not want to leave any room for misunderstanding and announced that it would continue to support the government in the nation's interest. "We think that in the national interests and in the interests of the party, the Congress should continue to support the Gujral government," party spokesman Vithal Gadgil told newspersons.

Realising that political opinion across the board would hold the Congress as the biggest gainer in this situation, the party high command went out of his way to clarify party position vis-a-vis the Gujral government. The JD rule in Bihar had almost crumbled. The BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra was facing the biggest flak in the wake of the state-wide agitation following police firing and deaths on the Ambedkar issue in Mumbai.

Naturally, the biggest political beneficiary was the Congress which had started seing more than a ray of hope in the horizon in both states.

The DMK decision to pull out of the government evoked unfavourable and strong reactions from the corporate world as well. "The DMK decision certainly worries us and is bound to create upheavals in the government," said Ficci president AS Kasliwal.

Assocham secretary general V Raghuraman reacted similarly. "The DMK decision was intriguing," he said, adding that it was a cause of concern for all.Reportedly, this has caused an adverse impact on the share prices in major stock exchanges in the country as a result of renewed political uncertainty in the country.

There were subtle interpretations of the DMK move. To some, the decision was aimed at "exposing" Tamil Maanila Congress leaders. It is said the DMK is credited with the view that some TMC leaders, including its central ministers, were trying to corner all gains for themselves at the expense of the United Front. The reference is said to be to finance minister P Chidambaram whose rising popularity graph is not particularly liked by the DMK chief.

The DMK is said to be equally unhappy over the manner in which the left parties and the truncated JD were trying to remove Laloo Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal from the United Front. By defending the RJD, DMK was only consolidating in its own constituency, the dalits, in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK has four ministers at the centre. They include industry minister Murasoli Maran, surface transport minister TG Venkataraman, minister of state for defence NVN Somu and minister of state for petroleum and natural gas TR Balu.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.