His decision to ask Prime Minister AB Vajpayee to seek a confidence vote before passing the Finance Bill and Union Budget was based on the decision of his predecessor Shankar Dayal Sharma. If sources close to Narayanan are to be believed, he would also insist on letters of support as and when any political party claims to form an alternative government.

Since no political party has done it so far and the financial business in Parliament is yet to be completed, the President has not taken an initiative. Sharma had asked the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda to seek a vote of confidence after the Congress withdrew its support on March 30.

Parliament was in recess after the Budget had been introduced. After the Deve Gowda government lost the confidence of the House, the Finance Bill was passedlater by consensus. Narayanan has followed the same precedent.

Another reason for him to ask Vajpayee to seek the confidence of the House was that if the Finance Bill is taken up first and passed, it would have been treated as if his government enjoys majority in the House.

The President is understood to have indicated to PJ Kurien, chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party, and Oscar Fernandes, AICC general secretary, who called on him on Monday his unhappiness over the way some of the leaders and columnists were dragging the institution of the Rashtrapati Bhawan in a casual manner.

Though no confirmation is available from those who called on the President in the recent past, Narayanan is credited with the view that he would ensure that the next incumbent for the Prime Minister's post convinces him of a ``reasonable support'' he enjoys in the Lok Sabha.

Shanker Dayal Sharma had administered the oath of office to Vajpayee in May 1996 without any letter from the supporting parties and after thefall of his government within 13 days, he came in for criticism for the failed experiment.

When Deve Gowda staked his claim, Sharma asked for letters of support from parties. He also asked for a common programme so that the coalition could function effectively.

Shanker Dayal Sharma did not oblige the then Congress president Sitaram Kesri when he staked the claim to form the government after the fall of the Gowda government. Kesri could not produce the letters and had to swallow another United Front government headed by IK Gujral.

The Vajpayee government's insistence that the party which claims to form the next government must have the support of 270 MPs stems from the precedent set by Shanker Dayal Sharma and followed up by Narayanan himself in March last year.

So confident are the ministers in the Vajpayee government that some of them are now openly asking the President recall Vajpayee as Prime Minister as no alternative government can come into being.

Today, former Prime Minister Chandra Shakheralso urged the President to follow the precedent and insist on letters of support whosoever claims to form the next government.

The Congress Party has not staked the claim so far. It is busy resolving contradictions among the so-called secular parties. It has time at least until April 22 when the Finance Bill is passed in Parliament. It has submitted two resolutions - one passed by the Congress Working Committee and another by the CPP - authorising Sonia Gandhi to take the initiative in forming a secular government with the help of like-minded parties.

Even before the President sets the process of finding out whether the possibility of an alternative government exists, it is felt that the allies of the Congress will send similar letters. But one thing is certain, the President would follow the precedent in letter and spirit.