Not again!

George Fernandes has long been a red rag to the Congress bull. His acrimony towards the Congress president — often expressed in very raw and distasteful language — is well-known and well-documented. The desire to bait Fernandes is therefore a very strong impulse in the Congress psyche. This was certainly the case when the party was in Opposition, and when it conducted a spectacular if over-stretched parliamentary boycott of George Fernandes as Union defence minister.

Unfortunately, the ‘Bait Fernandes’ campaign continues even when the party is in power. The Union government’s extraordinary action of filing a revised petition in the Supreme Court, making Fernandes the subject of further CBI scrutiny over the Kargil war purchases — after its own defence ministry had given him a clean chit — is of a piece with its general targeting of the man. It is fairly clear that the charge of financial impropriety over the purchase of ammunition for T-72 tanks, aluminium caskets and assorted items of clothing that had been acquired by the Armed Forces during the Kargil war, has no great credibility. By setting the CBI on him, the Manmohan Singh government appears to be driven by party considerations. However, precisely because of this, it does not work.

The pity is that the issue will now cast its shadow over parliamentary proceedings at a time when the Budget is waiting to be discussed and passed. Tuesday witnessed both Houses of Parliament being adjourned over the issue. There may be more hi-jinks of this kind in store for us in the days ahead. Thanks to the maladroitness of the ruling party and the immature tactics of the Opposition on the Fernandes issue, the nation may once again be deprived of an informed debate on the most crucial event in the parliamentary calendar — the passing of the Union Budget.