NEW DELHI, NOV 24: With several important bureaucratic slots, including that of the CBI director, falling vacant in the months to come, the TDP has reportedly stepped up pressure on the Vajpayee Government to accommodate bureaucrats from Andhra Pradesh.The matter was raised yesterday, in evidently a different garb, by TDP chief N.Chandrababu Naidu during a dinner hosted in his honour on Thursday night by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister complained about ``the inadequate representation'' of bureaucrats from his state at various levels in the Centre.The post the TDP chief is reportedly eyeing is that of the CBI director - a slot which will go abegging soon. Andhra DGP H.P. Dora, who is known for his proximity to Naidu, is one of the contenders.Accompanied by his finance minister, parliamentary party leaders K. Yerrannaidu and Alladi Raj Kumar, Naidu reportedly listed a charter of demands which included, among other things, consultation with his party before taking important decisions and additional financial assistance.He also asked the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues L.K.Advani, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Pramod Mahajan, to rein in state BJP leaders who were constantly needling him by raking up the demand for a separate Telangana state. He wondered if this was the price he was being forced to pay for supporting the Government.Also on his list were other crucial bureaucratic posts, including that of the heads of RAW, CBI and the IB, which are likely to fall vacant in the coming months. In this context, he is believed to have referred to former economic affairs secretary E.A.S. Sarma's plight. An IAS officer from the AP cadre, he went on protest leave after he was shifted to the coal ministry.But Naidu found himself in a spot when, in response to his plea for consulting his party before taking important decisions, Vajpayee invited him to join the Government or at least, the NDA formally. This would remove all irritants in our relationship, the PM is learnt to have remarked.The Prime Minister has made similar requests to Naidu in the past too, the argument being that, with 29 members in the Lok Sabha, the TDP's entry in the Union Council of ministers would obviously make the government more stable and confident.As in the past, the TDP chief remained non-committal this time round too. ``We do not want to join the Government as it would help us maintain a distance. When the going gets tough, we can divorce the BJP with ease,'' observed an MP.
