March 21 :     For the second consecutive day, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee successfully walked the political tightrope ? strengthening the BJP?s Tamil Nadu unit and keeping the volatile Jayalalitha happy by giving the Karunanidhi government a rap on the knuckle. Yesterday, Vajpayee had to perform a similar role: projecting the BJP?s image at a rally organised by the party?s West Bengal unit and, at the same time, ensuring that the unpredictable Mamata Banerjee, leader of BJP ally Trinamul Congress, was satisfied with his outburst against the Left Front. This two-day tour had been a headache for the Prime Minister?s advisers ? no one was sure if the two women would take kindly to Vajpayee visiting their states for programmes not organised by them. At one time, it appeared that Mamata was bent on scuttling his trip to Calcutta. ADMK chief Jayalalitha, on the other hand, played out a prolonged drama over ?not having received any invitation from the BJP? before finally refusing to attend the Prime Minister?s rally. But Vajpayee came through the past 48 hours with flying colours, cautioning the Tamil Nadu government for not taking a tougher stance against fundamentalist groups backed by Pakistan. He again lambasted the Congress and the Left for having stood by Rabri Devi in Bihar while caste massacres continued in Jehanabad. Even as he warned the DMK government, the Prime Minister was firm that there was no case for Central rule in Tamil Nadu yet, though Jayalalitha has not given up her demand. On removal of cases against her from the special courts, Vajpayee said he was for the rule of law and there was no effort on the part of the Centre to rescue anyone. ?Those facing corruption charges shall not be allowed to go free,? he asserted. In the same breath, he argued there should not be a ?witch-hunt?, and insisted that there was nothing wrong with transferring the cases to other sessions courts. He evaded further questions on the subject by pointing out that the Supreme Court was dealing with the issue and the matter was sub judice. According to the Prime Minister, taking away these cases from the trial court would not in any way prolong the procedure. Vajpayee did not forget to make it clear exactly how important the BJP believed Jayalalitha to be in state politics. ?We miss her here,? he said. At the Calcutta rally, too, he had certified that Mamata was ?not a power-hungry politician?. The Prime Minister also observed that the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP should maintain cordial relations with the ADMK. On questions about Jayalalitha?s friction with the state BJP, the Prime Minister simply promised to look into the problem. His task will not be made any easier by the fact that Mamata, too, is often at daggers drawn with the West Bengal BJP. Vajpayee said the DMK government would have to do much more to weed out ?fundamentalist forces and ISI elements? from the state and pledged the Centre?s support on this issue. He warned that the Centre was watching the situation in Tamil Nadu, but gave a breather to the DMK government saying law and order was, after all, a state subject. At the Tiruchirapalli rally, the Prime Minister was at his aggressive best, lashing out at the Congress and describing it as a party groping for power, feeling frustrated at not being able to unseat his government.