NDA heaps praise on Atal

The UPA may have completed a hundred days in office this week but going by the number of NDA leaders who turned up at the National Museum au...

The UPA may have completed a hundred days in office this week but going by the number of NDA leaders who turned up at the National Museum auditorium today, it seemed as if the Vajpayee regime had never gone away.

They were all there 8212; the former first family Ranjan, Namita and Niharika Bhattacharya playing the hosts, former PMO bureaucrats Brajesh Mishra and Ajay Bisaria, a host of former Union ministers and the party faithful.

The occasion was the release of former prime minister A.B. Vajpayee8217;s book, The Politics of Coalition a compilation of 109 speeches edited by friend N.M. Ghatate, and speaker after speaker extolled Vajpayee as the 8216;8216;coalition-builder par excellence8217;8217; who alone could have achieved the unique distinction of leading a 22-party alliance to a full term in power.

Vajpayee himself was a lot more modest. Refuting former President R. Venkatraman8217;s comment that 8216;8216;there should be only two parties8217;8217;, he stressed that coalition era was here to stay. Coalitions should not be seen as an inferior form of government or something borne out of circumstances 8216;8216;majboori8217;8217; but as a positive phenomenon 8216;8216;mazbooti8217;8217; that strengthens India8217;s democracy, he said.

Pointing out how the Congress, which had always been against coalitions, was now heading one, Vajpayee said in a country like India, it was essential to accommodate different shades of opinion. He agreed with Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani that 8216;8216;political untouchability8217;8217; should be eschewed, but made no comment against the present dispensation.

In sharp contrast, Advani took swipes at the Manmohan Singh Government. Quoting a Deutsche Bank analysis of the 2004 elections, Advani said the UPA was 8216;8216;a fragile coalition8217;8217; for unlike the NDA, it comprised parties which were bitter rivals in the states. This government would not last beyond 18 months, he said.

While Advani maintained India had not seen a coalition leader of Vajpayee8217;s calibre, George Fernandes went a step further to say 8216;8216;I don8217;t think anybody else in the world has succeeded in running a coalition government8217;8217; the way Vajpayee did.

nbsp;	Indira cancelled N-test fearing boycott in 8217;83, claims Venkataraman

		nbsp;	8226; NEW DELHI: Former President R. Venkataraman on Thursday said the Indira Gandhi Government had cancelled a nuclear test in 1983 at the last moment following leakage of the plan and consequent fear of boycott and sanctions. 8216;8216;In 1983, I was the Defence Minister and we had prepared to test the nuclear device. But as the news was leaked, the government 8212; afraid of boycott and sanctions 8212; could not put through the test,8217;8217; he said. 8212; PTI Story continues below this ad	nbsp;

R. Venkatraman was equally fulsome in his praise. Vajpayee was 8216;8216;a statesman of outstanding ability and merit8217;8217;, a 8216;8216;multi-faceted, multi-splendoured personality8217;8217; who managed to run a coalition government with his unique gifts of 8216;8216;tact and tolerance8217;8217;.

It was left to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat 8212; who released the book 8212; to inject a measure of humour to the proceedings. He confessed he could not complete reading a single speech in the book because 8216;8216;body language8217;8217; was essential to enjoy Vajpayee8217;s oratory. You have to see Vajpayee sway and swing, gesticulate or grin 8216;8216;latke, jhatke, matke8217;8217; to understand whether he was being funny or serious, happy or sad, he said.