It’s not about the PM’s health, it reflects the health of the BJP: Cong

The weeks ahead are thus critical for Vajpayee and the Government’s heavyhanded response to the article is indicative of the dilemma in which it finds itself. Ordinarily, the Prime Minister’s Office would have preferred to bury the episode quietly with a simple rejoinder. But then, these are not normal times and it seems to have given into the temptation of upping the ante.

Apart from crossing swords with Time magazine by issuing summons to correspondent Alex Perry, Vajpayee’s managers are now expending energy in conducting a damage control exercise. All this merely underlines the anxiety in PMO circles that the errant article may be used by Vajpayee’s detractors as a red herring to deflect attention from the tasks at hand. The VHP has already sounded the alarm on the de-escalation moves by the Government. A statement from Giriraj Kishore mocked at the Vajpayee Government’s ‘‘inability’’ to fight Pakistan.

While Vajpayee seems determined to go ahead, there is little doubt that he faces one of his most difficult diplomatic and political challenges after Gujarat and Ayodhya. The Government has set the J & K elections as the benchmark for starting military de-escalation. It has been conveyed to the United States and the United Kingdom that if Pakistan does not interfere in the poll process and allows peaceful elections with the participation of separatist groups like the Hurriyat, the Government will consider pulling back troops and reopening a dialogue with Islamabad after a new government is in place in Srinagar.

Similarly, the Government is gearing up to offer a political package to political and separatist leaders in J & K which will include a commitment for a comprehensive dialogue on the Kashmir problem. Although New Delhi may remain silent on the vexed question of autonomy, it is inclined to hint that this issue will be open to discussion.

All these can only ruffle feathers among the hawks in Vajpayee’s saffron establishment. He will have to tread carefully as he seeks to strike a balance between their dogma and the compulsions of governance. But inevitably, he may find himself at odds with them.

But even before he reaches this stage, he will have to cross the first hump, the cabinet reshuffle. Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister to dump Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Vajpayee has given the green signal to start the exercise of finding a replacement. However, so far, there has been no consensus on any name.

It’s ironic that this was the same portfolio over which Vajpayee battled with the RSS in his first term in 1998. He had in fact, communicated Jaswant Singh’s name to Rashtrapati Bhawan but was forced to withdraw it hours before the swearing in ceremony after the RSS threatened to break off its ties with the BJP.

Sinha was Advani’s suggestion as a replacement for Jaswant Singh but now he seems to have lost the confidence of his mentors. And once again, Vajpayee faces the threat of losing the prerogative of choosing his Finance Minister.

In this unseemly power game between Vajpayee and the hawks, the health question ends up trivialising vital issues and decisions. As Congress general secretary Ambika Soni said, ‘‘It’s not a question of the Prime Minister’s health. It’s a reflection on the health of the BJP. The BJP is clearly a house divided.

The Time article reflects the ongoing feud between the Prime Minster and forces opposed to him. The sources are from within his own party and it’s a very sad commentary on the way the affairs of the nation are run.’’