Suspect timing

BJP president Rajnath Singh was responsible for the poor timing in declaring L.K. Advani as the party8217;s prime ministerial candidate...

BJP president Rajnath Singh was responsible for the poor timing in declaring L.K. Advani as the party8217;s prime ministerial candidate on the very eve of the Gujarat election. Ironically, Singh was the man who at the BJP national executive in Bhopal earlier this year stalled Advani8217;s formal takeover by producing a letter from Vajpayee hinting that he wasn8217;t opting out of active politics just yet. Singh gave up the fight over Advani8217;s anointment when he realised that, in any case, he was not in the reckoning, with the senior RSS leadership headed by Mohan Bhagwat backing Advani.

Singh wasted no time in convening a parliamentary board meeting so that Advani8217;s name could be announced ahead of the Gujarat results. He feared that Modi, perhaps the most popular leader among the party8217;s rank and file, could put a spanner in the works later on. Between Advani and Modi, there is no doubt as to Singh8217;s preference. The BJP president is close to controversial RSS pracharak Sanjay Joshi, Modi8217;s known antagonist. Singh, in fact, deliberately removed Modi8217;s name from the parliamentary board. Significantly, the party president has scarcely visited Gujarat during the campaign.

Top-level changes

With the formal announcement of Advani as the BJP8217;s prime ministerial candidate, it is unlikely that an ailing Vajpayee will continue to be NDA chairperson much longer. NDA allies, relieved that Modi was out of the reckoning, welcomed Advani with open arms, even if most of them have a warm personal relationship with Vajpayee. Whether or not Advani formally takes over, it is clear that an isolated George Fernandes cannot continue as convener of the NDA much longer. It is just a matter of time before Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar takes his place.

Insider job

Prakash Karat was either very frank or else playing to the gallery when he informed party cadres in Delhi that the CPM had not pulled out of the government so far because of the Gujarat elections. He warned that elections were inevitable if, by the end of December, the government did not abandon the deal. The party general secretary did not bargain that the party8217;s own TV channel, Kairali, which was present at the closed-door meet, would telecast the relevant clip showing Karat leaving the dais with a broad smile and a swagger. The TV footage was hastily removed from Kairali8217;s subsequent news bulletins after orders from the party. But by the next day a mainstream TV channel had got wind of the story and managed to procure the controversial clip so that it was impossible for Karat to deny his remarks.

Warranted outcry

An outcry ensued when Defence Minister A.K. Antony admitted in reply to a question from Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar in Parliament that according to the rules of the civil aviation bureau, the service chiefs are not exempt from the mandatory frisking before boarding a flight. The rule has now been changed. Actually, waiving security checks for the service chiefs is largely symbolic, since they almost never travel on civilian aircraft, except when they are on holiday. On duty, they can commandeer armed forces planes and helicopters. Except for Robert Vadra, the list of those who are not subjected to a security check is entirely in tune with the warrant of precedence. The armed force chiefs are surprisingly low down in twelfth place, below even members of the Planning Commission, ministers of state, the cabinet secretary, the attorney-general, lieutenant-governors etc.

Even-handed approach

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya8217;s government has accused West Bengal Governor Gopal Gandhi, a one-time favourite, of misusing his constitutional position by writing four letters to President Pratibha Patil complaining about the handling of Nandigram. This has endeared Gandhi to the BJP. But just five years back, the BJP was annoyed with him since Gandhi, then a senior aide of President K.R. Narayanan, had drafted five letters on behalf of Narayanan pinpointing the Modi government8217;s failure to prevent the communal carnage in Gujarat and the delay in calling in the army. The mark of a truly fair-minded pubic servant is one who acts independently regardless of who it might please or displease.