Inside Track

Last Sunday morning, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting ordered the acting CEO of DD, O.P. Kejriwal, to excise all references to Sonia in the Maneka interview just hours before the telecast.

The next day in Parliament8217;s Central Hall, MPs from the ruling alliance including George Fernandes demanded to know from Mahajan just whose side he was on. Why should a minister8217;s remarks on a political foe be censored?

Doordarshan8217;s belated claim that itscode does not permit personalised attacks against a third person in an interview, sounds rather feeble. After all Subramaniam Swamy, Vishnu Bhagwat and Jayalalitha were some of the outspoken earlier guests on the Editor8217;s Choice programme. No one objected when they freely criticised those who are presently in the government.

The format of the privately produced programme commissioned by DD, is to invite newspaper editors to interview an interesting person of their choice.

Judicial opposition

The Telugu Desam Party TDP pushed the Vajpayee government to the brink by dragging its feet in supporting the Bill ratifying the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government in the Lok Sabha. But there was more to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu8217;s reluctance to bail out the government than just the fact that as the leader of a regional party he feels strongly about the use of Article 356.

Ram Jethmalani, who often acts as unofficial law minister, brought to the notice of the Cabinet that onereason the TDP chief was sulking was because the names of his nominees for the Hyderabad High Court bench had not been cleared by the Law Ministry for the last two months, despite several reminders. Law Minister Thambi Durai questioned by perturbed alliance partners as to why he was sitting over Naidu8217;s recommendations, put the blame on the PMO, suggesting that the latter had different candidates in mind. The Law Ministry, one learns, has now woken up from its slumber and is anxious to clear the judges8217; appointments without any more delay.

Rollback rollback

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha was particularly passionate at a ministerial meeting in backing the argument for not withdrawing the Bihar presidential order regardless of possible defeat in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

Speaking with the wisdom of hindsight, Sinha 8212; who admitted he has been nicknamed Rollback Sinha by the Press because the government had to climb down last year on many of his Budget proposals warned that retracting ondecisions already taken had made the government and himself a laughing stock. Both political opponents and alliance parties believed that the government was always susceptible to pressure. In the forthcoming Budget, Sinha cautioned, no matter the consequences, there should be no change of any taxation measure announced on Budget Day.

Misplaced ire

One of the few major government achievements in the last decade has been the return of normalcy in Punjab. But the country has not since utilised the services of K.P.S. Gill, the man credited with the dramatic turn-around in the state. Gill8217;s name has been recommended at various times as advisor in troubled states like Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Bihar. Invariably the proposal gets scuttled.

Recently, when Home Minister L.K. Advani was keen to appoint Gill an adviser during President8217;s rule in Bihar, George Fernandes opposed it. Samata Party general secretary Jaya Jetley as a feminist reportedly objected to Gill.

Considering that those involved inthe Rupan Deo Bajaj sexual harassment case had their own axe to grind against Gill, one hoped that by now our women activists would have found a more worthwhile cause to champion.

Bihar blunder

After scarcely a false move ever since the BJP came to power, Sonia seems to have blundered on the Bihar issue. Sonia does not really want the Vajpayee government to fall before the passing of the Budget. An election towards the end of the year suits her best. Congressmen believe that given a little time the party can capture power on its own without untidy alliances with undependable allies. The extra time is to revive the Congress8217;s political fortunes in UP and Bihar, which together account for 139 of a total of 544 seats.

But by mending fences with Laloo, Sonia has harmed the Congress poll prospects in Bihar. Sonia was misled by Congressmen like Arjun Singh and Sitaram Kesri, who have a remarkable knack for taking the wrong decisions. Perhaps Sonia just wanted to convey to the government she can8217;t betaken for granted, but in the process she has offended the Dalit voter in both Bihar and UP.