Inside track

The BJP has now decided to promote its own stable of artists and is cashing in on its clout as the ruling party to establish its cultural credentials. Last year, Khushabhau Thakre set up the BJP cultural cell under a retired government officer, D.P. Sinha. Recently, the cell organised an exhibition of 16 Indian artists at London8217;s Nehru Centre, run by the Indian High Commission.

The exhibition8217;s glossy brochure claims that the paintings celebrate theessence of 8220;Indoo identity8221; as opposed to the 8220;show boy modernism of M.F. Hussain8221;. Unfortunately, the samples of 8220;Indoo art8221; 8212; the cell apparently believes that Hindu art and Indian art are synonymous hence the curious name has evoked scant praise from the critics. The painters sponsored by the BJP have little standing in the art world. One contributes to TV mythological serials, another is a socialite, a third is the retired head of a university arts department. The BJP has persuaded some leading industrialists to foot the bill. The ever-obliging national carrier, Air-India, has gifted two return tickets for the organisers and also borne a large share of the air-freight charges in return for some of the paintings. The standard of A-I8217;s once classy art collection seems to be falling!

His master8217;s voice

The new acting CEO of Prasar Bharati, Rajiv Rattan Shah, who doubles as additional secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, begins his day at 8.30 a.m. by calling on theIamp;B Minister, Pramod Mahajan, at his residence. He leaves the office only around 10 p.m. after supervising the last Doordarshan news bulletin.

At a daily review meeting with DD editors, Shah gives detailed instructions on news coverage. For instance, the guidelines on the Kargil conflict are that pictures of weeping relatives of soldiers should not be telecast. Opposition leaders are to be shown sparingly and their remarks criticising the government are to be avoided. Recently, Shah was furious with a report from Bangalore, on the 8.30 p.m. news, explaining why onions had been placed under the Essential Commodities Act. The onion story was blacked out in subsequent news bulletins and a blanket ban on all onion stories till after the polls was imposed.

The CEO even took an interest in the colour of the map of India for the weather forecast. Shah wanted the green colour changed to something more 8220;vibrant8221;, such as orange or saffron, which happens to be the colour of the ruling party. After all this,the only possible grievance the BJP can have against DD is that Mahajan himself gets even more publicity than Advani.

Role reversal

The Ministry of External Affairs in the Vajpayee government has always spoken in two voices. Last year MEA Minister Jaswant Singh was at pains to convey the impression that signing the CTBT treaty would in no way compromise Indian interests.

But Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brajesh Mishra, who sees himself as the real power in the Foreign Office, was busy giving background briefings to journalists assuring everyone that India would not sign the CTBT.

On the Kargil conflict the two men still speak in different voices. This time, Singh has taken the hard line, and Mishra the soft one. Singh was opposed to Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz8217;s visits to India, after reports about the barbaric torture of our soldiers. Mishra insisted that Aziz8217;s visit must not be cancelled. In private conversations Mishra even argued that Fernandes8217;sstatement about providing the intruders safe passage was not as outrageous as it was made out to be.

For the Prime Minister8217;s recent visit to Dacca, the MEA included in the official delegation, the minister of state for communication, Kabindra Purakayastha, a Bengali from Assam. Mishra promptly cut out the name, then Jaswant Singh restored it.

Youthful ways

Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Uma Bharati, has a tendency to shoot off her mouth without weighing the consequences. She offended a senior woman journalist at a party by officiously advising her to wear a chunni with a kurta in future. Bharati alarmed her press information officer by informing him that she would ensure he lost his portly frame while working for her.Now Bharati has proposed a curious scheme for implementation in 80 constituencies. It seems 100 youth will be hired in each constituency to work for the process of national reconstruction at a salary of Rs 1,000 a month. The problem is that no one has as yet spelt outjust what exactly the youth are expected to do by way of reconstruction and whether the scheme violates the Election Commission8217;s Model Code of Conduct.