MEANWHILE

BJP circles, however, are looking at the incident through a different prism. For them, the highlight of the entire sordid episode was the peace pipe that Vajpayee and Advani smoked to conduct Operation Thackeray jointly. Ever since the battle with the Sangh exploded on the front pages of the newspapers, an orphaned party has been looking to the duo to steady its rocking boat. Anxious partymen, worried by the plunging graph of the Centre, have beenpleading with both camps to sink their differences and work together to keep the Government going. With the RSS on the warpath, most BJPwallahs fear the party will end with the fall of the Vajpayee Government, making them cling to each other like lost children.

Saffron Congress

If the BJP is overwhelmed by a sense of drift, many in the Congress are equally unsure where their party is headed. The CWC resolution on the anti-Christian violence in Gujarat left members speechless, especially those from the minority communities.

According to party sources, the soft Hindutva touch to the resolution did not reflect the tone and tenor of the discussions in the Working Committee meeting. In fact, they claim it bore little resemblance to the rough draft presented to the Committee.

The final document, which most CWC members saw only after it was released to the press, appears to have been hijacked by two leaders who fancy themselves as chief draftsmen for the Congress, Pranab Mukherjee and Arjun Singh. Andthey seem to have convinced Sonia Gandhi, who is hesitant to appear too pro-Christian, that fire can only be fought with fire. So, the Congress must cultivate its own brand of Hindutva to counter the saffron brigade8217;s communalism.

Those who were hoping the Congress would recapture its lost minority vote base are now wondering whether like Rajiv at the height of the Mandal-mandir agitation, Sonia too will supress her natural instincts and bow to the outdated vision of a timid old guard.

Buying peace

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana is on a wooing binge these days. Two Sundays ago, he hosted a tea party for his supporters and detractors in the BJP8217;s Delhi unit. Last Sunday, he threw a lunch for which the guest list included Pramod Mahajan and Delhi MP Vijay Goel.

The common strand between Mahajan and Goel is that both are perceived to belong to the Vajpayee camp and both were staunch backers of Khurana8217;s bete noire, former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh. Now that the RSS bosseshave their knives out for him, Khurana obviously needs to win new friends and influence people to keep his position.

Between two bosses

The Ministry of External Affairs8217; solitary expert on disarmament and strategic issues, Rakesh Sood, was put in a piquant situation recently. His immediate boss, Foreign Secretary K. Raghunath, was leaving for Tokyo for the first high-level talks with Japan after Pokhran II. At the same time, his former boss, Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, was off to London and Paris for another round of strategic dialogue as the Prime Minister8217;s special emissary.

No one in the MEA was betting on who would get the benefit of Sood8217;s services and Raghunath was left to fend for himself in Tokyo while Mishra flew off with the only expert the Government of India has. So much for the hoped-for clarity in turf demarcation between the MEA and the PMO.

Simply myself

An Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry never fails to surprise his visitors with the wallembellishments in his room. All the hallmarks of a senior bureaucrat are missing. There are no portraits of the President, the Prime Minister or even the Father of the Nation. The trademark wallclock is also missing.

Instead, he has framed on his walls all the letters of appreciation and certificates he has received through his career in the Government. Being a Karnataka cadre officer from the 1967 batch, letters from his state Chief Ministers, ranging from Gundu Rao to H.D. Deve Gowda, occupy the pride of place.

Another eccentricity he has is one that seems to be afflicting many bureaucrats these days 8212; writing books. He has authored several in his 32 years in government service, the latest being one on strikes in which he has categorised all the forms of union protest that there are. This is based on his long years of experience in Karnataka8217;s labour departments.