Not to be left behind, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also shot off a letter to the PM voicing the same demand. And from Karnataka, which is opposing the implementation of the award, Chief Minister J H Patel urged the PM not to yield to pressure from ``any group or party'' and refrain from taking any decision on the Krishna and Cauvery disputes that would harm the interests of his state.

The demand for notifying the scheme now assumes significance since the central government has to report to the Supreme Court on July 21 about the progress in notifying the scheme. The centralgovernment has sought as many as five adjournments in the last one year in the Supreme Court in this case.

The 12-page memorandum submitted to the PM indicated the AIADMK front's change of strategy since it made no mention of dismissal of the TN government; the AIADMK seems to have temporarily suspended this demand and is focussing instead on other state issues like Cauvery, reservations and making Tamil an official language. The memorandum was also signed by leaders of the PMK, Janata Party and TRC but not the MDMK, whose relations with the AIADMK are strained. But a delegation of BJP and MDMK MPs, which included Union Minister P R Kumaramangalam, later met the PM to make the same demand on Cauvery.

The memorandum said the obligation of the central government to notify the scheme had been accepted in principle to facilitate the implementation of the award.