It was a joke, says Vajpayee, moves delegates to tears

The former PM’s disclaimer was greeted with relief but ‘drama’ enacted in front of TV cameras last night has left several leaders unhappy. L.K. Advani, Pramod Mahajan, and Venkaiah Naidu —who were present on the dais when Vajpayee made his enigmatic remarks last night — felt particularly let down, sources said. Since the workers’ meeting last night was aimed at galvanising the party’s cadre ahead of the Assembly polls, they were upset that ‘Atalji’ had chosen to send the wrong signal.

Vajpayee played to the cadre too as he told the meeting this afternoon: ‘‘Kayi logon ke chehre mein jo kal chamak thi, who aaj nahin hain, aur shayad mere Marathi ka prem iska kaaran ban gaya (there is not the same glow on many faces today as there was yesterday and perhaps my love for Marathi is the reason.)’’

He said his remark in Marathi that ‘‘No, not again; I have had enough’’ was made only in response to the slogan ‘‘Ab ki bari, Atal Behari’’. ‘‘Mera response humour ka tha,’’ Vajpayee said but admitted it had created much confusion. Humour often gives scope for mischief, he added.

On his remark that ‘‘for the first time I have come under a barrage of attacks,’’ Venkaiah Naidu said the remark was made in the context of the unwarranted attacks on Vajpayee made by VHP leaders. Naidu, in his speech, went so far as to tell the VHP leaders to mind their own business .

On the issue of removal of Narendra Modi, though, there was no telling off the VHP. On the contrary, the national executive turned out to be a triumph for the Gujarat CM who managed to have an exclusive breakfast meeting with Vajpayee today. Keshubhai Patel was told by Advani and Naidu to patch up with Modi in the interests of the party.

The party’s future too is split between the RSS approach and Vajpayee line. While Advani and Naidu stressed the need to be unapologetic about Hindutva, Vajpayee said the party must take up issues related to the people— bijli, sadak, and paani.