Veiling Vajpayee

The Election Commission is to requisition muslin worth Rs 15 lakh, in order to provide a level playing road for political parties participating in the coming general elections. No more will Atal Bihari Vajayee, with his right hand raised in cheery salutation, meet your eye as you zip down the national highway. No longer will travellers be reminded that the Golden Quadrilateral is 8220;Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s dream project8221; 8212; as the legend on hoardings along the highway puts it.

While the scrupulousness with which the EC is going about its task of being even-handed may evoke admiration, it does appear that its misgivings over these painted boards on highway gantries immortalising the prime minister are misplaced. There is no doubt, of course, that the intention behind the installation of these 300-odd hoardings 8212; at a cost of something like Rs 24 crore to the national exchequer 8212; was done with the intention of magnifying the image of the prime minister and his party, possibly with the general elections in mind. But to presume that voters will be so taken up by the hoardings that they will like herds of sheep be led to the BJP fold is to give little credit for their powers of independent decision-making. Besides, where can such a line 8212; between what is acceptable 8220;publicity8221; for the government and what is not 8212; be drawn? Should we now black out the writing on foundation stones laid by senior members of the NDA government and should portraits of the prime minister in public offices end up behind shrouds too?

Ideally, of course, it is best not to promote party interests, personality cults, and the like, in projects that involve government funding. But such punctiliousness over norms has long been forgotten. Parties like the Congress that now fault the NHAI for promoting Vajpayee in its hoardings forget that they too 8212; when in power 8212; have been guilty of appending the names of their leaders to various government projects and programmes, roads and localities.