Comrades, and friends

WhenHEN BJP stalwart L K Advani met Jyoti Basu during V P Singh’s prime ministership, the then West Bengal chief minister didn’t want the meeting to be made public. The meeting, held at the residence of a common friend in Vasant Vihar in south Delhi, finds a mention in Advani’s memoirs. The late Harkishen Singh Surjeet, in contrast, didn’t have such hang-ups. During the V P Singh era, the two leaders used to meet regularly for their “Tuesday meetings”. After one of those meetings, when Advani offered the former CPM general secretary a lift in his vehicle, the latter didn’t think twice before getting in. This would, however, be unthinkable in today’s times.