I’m the face, not the mask: Atal

While not denying these reports categorically, Vajpayee said they were part of an organised propaganda campaign by the BJP’s rivals because they could not find any other stick to beat the party with. Though he was present, Advani did not speak-the organisers said it was due to paucity of time.

Coming after the "mask" episode and the controversy over the inclusion of his "distorted" article on the BJP’s website on the Internet, Vajpayee’s remarks are being read as a veiled warning to hawks inthe BJP and a message of reassurance to moderate allies and future partners that he is here to stay.

The BJP and its allies presented a united front at a packed public meeting in Ambedkar Stadium here, kicking off not just the election campaign for Delhi but marking the start of an all-out offensive to capture power at the Centre. Meant to showcase the party’s strength, the meeting had leaders of its allied parties from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to Maharashtra CM Manohar Joshi speaking glowingly of their strong ties with the BJP and the smooth functioning of their coalition governments.

The proposed Common Minimum Programme (CMP) is likely to steer clear of Ayodhya, Article 370 and common civil code and instead be largely an agenda for development, with leaders of allied parties stating that issues like literacy, drinking water and corruption would get priority in the CMP.

The effort was clearly to show that the BJP combine, more than the United Front and Congress, was a strong, unifiedcoalition that could give a stable government.

It would seem that the gloves are off as far as Sonia Gandhi is concerned. Badal lambasted her apology for the Delhi riots as insincere and "crocodile tears" and exhorted voters to reply to her "sorry" with another "sorry" when they went to cast their ballot.

Rajasthan CM Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Delhi CM Sahib Singh focussed on her ignorance of the myriad problems confronting the country and the conditions of the poor. Samata Party chief George Fernandes issued a challenge to Sonia : "If you really want to get to the bottom of the Bofors scandal, call your friend Ottavio Quatrochchi back to India and ask him to explain how he got the Bofors kickback money," he said.

Maharashtra CM Manohar Joshi quoted a poem by Vajpayee and then asked : "Can Sonia write poetry? She can’t even write speeches nor read them properly. Can we think of such a person as prime minister?" In fact, Joshi’s speech, laced with humour, was the surprise of the evening. The Shiv Sena,he reminded the BJP, was its senior-most partner, having been together for three years. "Don’t forget that when you are forming the government," he added smilingly.

Vajpayee, on the other hand, was not in his usual form, perhaps tired from non-stop campaigning around the country. The BJP, he said, was trying to come to power only as a way to fulfill its dream of once again making India a great nation, he said. The country needed a stable government: tikau(stable), not bikau or khau (saleable or greedy). Referring to his short-lived, 13-day government, he recalled his words when he had resigned : that he would take his case to a sabha even bigger than the Lok Sabha – to the people. "You are the judge and the jury," he said. "Let the people of India decide whom they want. I am in front of you today."He challenged the UF and Congress to clarify whether government agencies had been used for political purposes, as alleged in the Congress manifesto (which says that former prime minister DeveGowda had used government agencies to try and break the Congress). "We cannot allow this. The UF and Congress must clarify," he said.

The rally saw an impressive line-up : Chief ministers of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, besides Samata Party’s George Fernandes. AIADMK chief Jayalalitha was supposed to attend but sent her apologies as she was tied up with electioneering in Tamil Nadu.