The Bharatiya Janata Party has however said it was ready to assist passing of the Budget only if it was put before Parliament in toto.

Vajpayee told the President that his party would not come in the way, provided there was no change in the Budget proposals presented by his government.

Narayanan, who spoke to Vajpayee on the phone, told him that at the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi on Monday to discuss the approval of the Budget, the leaders should agree to approve the Budget, official sources said.

The issue was discussed at the BJP's national office-bearers meeting and it was decided that the party would not accept any amendments in the Budget proposals.

Meanwhile, former finance minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that the party will try topass the Budget within the stipulated 75-day time frame without any major changes.

Singh, who is one of the members of the three-member committee set up by the Congress party to hold talks on the Budget with other friendly parties, told The Financial Express that the party was not going to take any "major steps" to change the existing policies.

"We will try to seek constructive co-operation from the parties supporting us on budget-related matters," said Singh. The issues have to be discussed and contradictions have to be sorted out through dialogues, he added. On the demand of RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and Left parties for changes in the "anti-poor Budget", Singh said: "This is not the time to press for individual inclinations. We cannot take any steps at present which can destabilise the economy".

Singh said that all the matters will be decided through dialogues. "We are meeting with friendly parties on Monday to discuss these issues," said Singh. "We have told the President that ourapproach will be "constructive" on the Budget as we want to avoid a financial crisis in the country," Singh said after a three-member party delegation comprising him, Sharad Pawar and Pranab Mukherjee had a 30-minute meeting to give the party's view on the issue.

Singh said there was no doubt that the Budget paid scant attention to the critical national problems. For example, in infrastructure, only 10 per cent public funding had been provided for power and telecom and the annual plan for Railways was actually lower than last year. Singh called the Rs 500 crore more allocated for education as nothing but a token. The Tapas Mukherjee committee recommended that Rs 136,000 crore be spent over 10 years. The Left would also not block the passage of the Finance Bill but may ask for some amendments. CPI secretary D Raja said: "We do not want to precipitate any constitutional and financial crisis at this juncture. Once the alternative government takes over, we will have our say on economic matters and otherissues," Raja said.

Senior communist party leader and former agriculture minister Chaturanan Mishra agreed with Singh's views. "We have to keep in mind that a situation has arisen in which consensus is very important," said Mishra.

Mishra said that there were certain areas which had been neglected by the Budget and there was need for immediate correction in those areas. "The Budget has not paid adequate attention to the people below poverty line. Agriculture and PSUs have not been paid due attention. And no concrete step has been taken to check price rise," pointed out Mishra. These issues can be taken up during the discussions with the Congress, said Mishra. He, however, stressed that a consensus had to be reached on passing the Finance Bill without much trouble. "The supporting parties should not try to force their demands," he said.