In his inimitable Young Turk fashion, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar is battling cancer and a team of doctors at the Apollo Hospital are meeting tomorrow to decide what should be the next line of treatment and whether he should be flown to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in the US.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has offered to send the former PM abroad for further treatment but Chandra Shekhar, undergoing treatment for cancer of the bone marrow, had so far refused to move out of the country.Despite his ailment, Chandra Shekhar’s political instincts remain sharp as he asks you about the latest political developments.His comments on the goings on continue to be acerbic: ‘‘Khari khoti kisko sunaoon? (who do I give a piece of my mind?)’’ when he’s told that this is what is required in Parliament.He laments the fact that the government and the opposition do not have any respect for each other today. ‘‘Without that, how can democracy function? I used to go to Parliament and come back, there was just so much shor (din). Democracy is in danger today, perhaps even more than it was in those days (Emergency).’’On the Left’s veiled threat to the UPA on the issue of disinvestment, he is quite sure: ‘‘That’s an empty threat.’’But he has a lot to say on the BJP developments: ‘‘BJP ko koi nahin bachaa sakta (Nobody can save the BJP). Advani can no longer manage the party. The RSS will not tolerate him any more.’’‘‘Advani is under an illusion that he is creating history. It is meaningless. He is not Itihas Purush. He should not have said all those things (about Jinnah) in Pakistan. If you want to start a new debate, do you do it in your own country or in Pakistan?’’ He minces no words about Advani as he receives his usual evening visitors at his South Avenue Lane residence. ‘‘Advani se behtar main Vajpayee ko manta hoon (I rate Vajpayee higher than Advani).’’He laments the absence now of ‘‘tall leaders’’ who existed in government and opposition, even at the time of the Emergency. ‘‘There were leaders like JP, Indira Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee.’’ And then as an afterthought, says: ‘‘But nobody listens to Vajpayee now.’’
