April 19: The UF steering committee announces I.K. Gujral as the newleader at 9.00 pm. An hour later, the TMC parliamentary party meets at G.K.Moopanar’s Western Court suite and decides not to participate in thegovernment. At 10.30 pm, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi issues a statement requestingthe TMC to reconsider the decision. Prime Minister-elect Gujral too meetsMoopanar and pleads for a change of heart.
April 20: UF convenor Chandrababu Naidu meets Moopanar at 1 pm, explainsthe situation that led to the choice of Gujral. There seems to be no change.Three hours later, Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah meets Moopanar, triesto pacify him. Karunanidhi, nephew Mura-soli Maran and Naidu meet Moopanar atmidnight. The meeting ends at 1.45 am, again with no apparent result.
April 21: After the swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister Gujralapproaches Moopanar, tries to persuade him. Janata Dal president Laloo PrasadYadav also meets Moopanar at 3 pm. CPI(M) leaders Jyoti Basu and Sitaram Yechurymeet Moopanar and explain the Left’s position.
April 22: Before going to Parliament to seek the vote of confidence,Gujral visits Moopanar and reiterates his request that the TMC reconsider itsdecision. Gujral, on the floor of the House, again requests the TMC to rejointhe government. Almost all political parties make a similar plea.
April 23: At 10 am, CPI(M) leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet meets Moopanarat Western Court and explains that his party had never doubted the TMC’spolitical integrity. He also pleads with him to join the government. At noon,Congress president Sitaram Kesri meets Moopanar with similar advice. In TamilNadu, Karunanidhi expresses hope on the floor of the legislative assembly thatMoopanar and his team would join the government soon. Moopanar leaves forChennai.
April 24: Once again on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly, the DMKchief expresses the hope that P. Chidambaram would continue as finance minister.The TMC, showing the first signs of a thaw, announces that its executive wouldmeet in Chennai on April 27 to take a final decision on the issue.
April 25: Moopanar visits Kumbakonam to console the family of a TMCcadre who committed suicide following news that the party chief has been deniedthe high office. Moopanar, for the first time, announces that he has nothingagainst anybody. He also asks his partymen to refrain from blaming anyone or anyparty for what happened in Delhi.
April 26: Moopanar holds a press conference in Chennai, thefirst after his party decided to sit out of the government. Says he has noquarrel with the choice of Guj-ral as prime minister: "He’s a betterchoice than myself." But he does not accept the argument that a leader fromthe north was needed to fight the BJP. In a show of equidistance, the TMC chiefturns the logic back on the Congress, saying it too should join the coalition.The TMC’s final decision, he said, would be taken on April 27.