The growing unease between the head of government and the head of state arises essentially from a grey area about the powers of the caretaker government. The battlelines are getting sharply drawn with the Opposition alleging that the BJP Government had struck ``deal'' on behalf of telecom companies, saying the government did not have the mandate to do so.

But the Government has argued that there's nothing in the Constitution to distinguish between a regular government and a caretaker one. Caught in this tussle is the President.

Narayanan's decision to call Jagmohan, who was suddenly moved out of the Communications Ministry last month to the Urban Affairs Department, is beingseen as an attempt by the President to get to the bottom of what led to the telecom package, which dramatically reduced the license fee for operators and envisaged disinvestment in MTNL and VSNL. Jagmohan was strongly opposed to the moves for revenue-sharing and this was seen as a reason for his transfer.

Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed Jagmohan's meeting with the President but did not divulge what transpired. When contacted, Jagmohan refused to say anything about his visit to the President.

Though Rashtrapati Bhavan is tightlipped, Narayanan is reportedly also not very happy with the Government's latest move to disinvest to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore, cleared by the Cabinet a few days ago. Opposition leaders are slated to meet him on Saturday to protest against the Government's ``illegitimate'' decisions. They plan an all-India stir and they hope it will strengthen the President's hands to question the decision.

The President's meeting with Jagmohan is the second time that Narayanan has sought an accountof a decision of the government. He had indicated his dissatisfaction with some of the Government's decisions in the aviation sector like the proposal to disinvest in Air-India, and the Rs 125-crore equity infusion into Indian Airlines linked to the purchase of fifty seater turbo prop aircraft. He had directly called Anil Baijal, Indian Airlines MD and joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation, for clarifications.

His decision to call a junior official directly had raised eyebrows in government circles for it was obvious that the Rashtrapati had not been satisfied with the briefing given to him by the Cabinet Secretary on the subject. In fact, Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar had subsequently called up Narayanan to say that he could have come personally to brief the President had he wanted further clarification.

In a meeting of the Assurance Committee of the Rajya Sabha a few days ago, Gurudas Das Gupta, MP, had asked if the President had advised that disinvestment be stopped as it was apolicy matter and the government a caretaker one. The officials present had clarified that this was not the case and the Government was going ahead with the policy. They are believed to have told the members present that the decision was a ``political'' one.

Even before the Vajpayee government fell, there was unease in the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister. This has become more pronounced after the defeat of the Government on the floor of the House.

The President has conveyed his advice to the Prime Minister on a variety of subjects in recent weeks. He is supposed to have favoured a session of the Rajya Sabha to debate Kargil. Narayanan took a whole day to sign on the file changing Jagmohan's portfolio and did so after the Prime Minister met him to explain the reasons for the reshuffle.

The three service chiefs briefed the President directly along with the Defence Secretary (and not the Defence Minister) on the war in Kargil after it was conveyed to the government that thePresident was dissatisfied that the PM had not kept him fully apprised of the developing situation in Jammu and Kashmir.