``Intemperate, reckless, disreputable, undesirable.....'' Swamy flung at Jethmalani.

``Diseased insect, dangerous megalomaniac, virulent viper...'' Jethmalani spat back.

The bombs are exploding so fast, the prose is so purple that the Government must be seeing red. The coalition the BJP had so carefully crafted is turning out to be a minefield of embarrassments.

But Jethmalani and Swamy aren't pulling their punches. Swamy shot off a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today demanding Jethmalani's removal from the Union Cabinet. ``I strongly urge you to sack him as an undesirable person unfit to be a Minister,'' he declared.

In response, Jethmalani was acerbic and devastating, to say the least. In a signed article released today, he lashed out. ``This diseased insect cannot be disinfected. He has to be crushed and carefullyincinerated. It is not enough to throw him into the gutter. That is his natural habitat. There he will grow and flourish.''

The missiles are coming at the Vajpayee Government relentlessly. Everyday, another skeleton is pulled out of the cupboard, shaking and rattling in a dance of death. First, it was former Surface Transport Minister S Muthiah who went out on a corruption charge.

Yesterday, the spotlight turned to Communications Minister Buta Singh and the JMM bribery case. He has dug in his heels but the net seems to be closing in on him.

Today, Swamy dug out his own brand of dirt on Jethmalani in his letter to the PM. An alleged FERA violation, an alleged ban by the Bombay TADA Court on the high-profile lawyer - Swamy pointed an accusing finger at Jethmalani.He claimed that the Enforcement Directorate was awaiting the Government's political clearance to prosecute Jethmalani in the FERA case. As for the TADA Court's ban, Swamy said it was because of Jethmalani's ``material interest arising out of hisadvocacy of the notorious gangster, Dawood Ibrahim''.

Jethmalani was equally damning. He accused Swamy of having links with the LTTE, of scuttling the Bofors probe as law minister in the Chandra Shekhar Government, of being a ``bosom friend'' of notorious godman Chandraswami, of being ``a megalomaniac'' with ambitions of becoming Prime Minister of India.

``This virulent viper's targets have been many....He should be denied access to decent society....The moral leper that he is, I expect no such courage or rectitude from him.'' Jethmalani did not mince his words.

He too has sent a letter to the PM with ``explosive'' revelations about Swamy. He has sent a copy to the Revenue Department as well.

Not surprisingly, there is no word from the BJP on the escalating spat between its allies. The Government is fire-fighting on so many fronts, it seems to be running out of extinguishers.

Of course, it is not easy to handle mercurial partners such as the BJP has. Maverick politicians of the Jethmalani and Swamyvariety cannot be restrained with simple political logic. They make Laloo Yadav and his like seem tame in comparison.

Unless the BJP moves quickly to control matters, the situation may go out of hand. Swamy went all the way to President K R Narayanan today to give his tirade against the Government a ring of formality. Apart from asking the President to intervene and advise Vajpayee to declare his ``Lakshman Rekha'' on the probity issue, he presented Narayanan with a list of ministers in the Government who face charges at various levels.

He went to the extent of naming them and the list included the BJP leaders accused in the Ayodhya demolition case.

Swamy's punchline in his letter to Vajpayee: ``The highly intemperate, reckless and uncultured remarks of Mr Ram Jethmalani against Ms Jayalalitha, the leader of the AIADMK and of the Democratic Progressive Front consisting of 27 MPs elected from Tamil Nadu, has upset the people of Tamil Nadu very much.''

Jethmalani's reply to the invocation of Tamilpride: ``The Diseased Insect called Subramanian Swamy'' as the title of his article.