Discomfort levels

The unsinkable controversy over the sacking of the former naval chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat has the BJP government gasping for its life-support system. What8217;s worse, there seems no immediate end to the controversy in sight. That Prime Minister Vajpayee had to defend Defence Minister George Fernandes in Lucknow on Sunday is not just unprecedented, it indicates, above all, a degree of desperation in the country8217;s highest decision-making levels. While Vajpayee may publicly blame the Opposition for making 8220;wild allegations8221; against Fernandes in order to rob his government of the gloss it had acquired from the gains made through that bus trip to Lahore, he will still have to, albeit privately, come to terms with the fact that his defence minister has not exactly covered himself with glory over his handling of the Bhagwat affair.

While George Fernandes8217; pro-LTTE leanings and involvements with the Burmese and Tibetan movements as well as his blatant anti-China stance may be compatible with his earlier image asa Socialist Party activist, they sit very uneasily on the persona of the country8217;s defence minister. His current office requires, nay demands, a more nuanced and less-ideologically driven approach to managing India8217;s security concerns and international engagements. Little wonder then that the Fernandes year at Raksha Bhavan has been marked by wild and not-so-wild speculation over the defence minister8217;s conduct and commitments. The charge that the defence secretary actually wrote to the service chiefs asking them to go slow on action against gun-running operations in the Andamans recently figured in the media. And Admiral Bhagwat, in his 51-page signed affidavit, alleged that Fernandes patronised militant groups; leaked intelligence information to benefit the LTTE and Northeast militants; and was close to an arms dealer lobbying for the purchase of an aircraft carrier that the country doesn8217;t need. He concluded that 8220;in any other country, a person like George Fernandes would never have been appointed topublic office and in particular the ministry of defence8221;. Even if Bhagwat8217;s views were to be dismissed as the tirades of a frustrated man and, as the defence minister himself remarked, not worth the paper they are written on, the fact remains that some of the stuff flying around could stick, bringing disrepute to both the defence ministry and the country. The resulting embarrassment is something that the already beleaguered Vajpayee government can hardly afford.

AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha8217;s recent outburst against the defence minister has made the situation even more untenable. There was a time when George Fernandes was the emissary chosen by the prime minister to assuage, from time to time, a disturbed Jayalalitha in Chennai and ensure that the lady did not pull out of the coalition. This lent credence to the belief that Fernandes enjoyed Jayalalitha8217;s confidence. Today, ironically enough, it is Jayalalitha herself who seems the most keen in seeking Fernandes8217; ouster from the ministry, alleging hisinvolvement in massive financial irregularities and activities that posed a threat to national security. The prime minister had better come up with a damage control plan to manage this conundrum at the earliest. Or it may just be too late.