Opinion King-maker and breaker
It is clear that the late Harkishan Singh Surjeet,as general secretary of the CPI(M),played a pivotal role in the moves that led to the quick installation and removal of Prime Ministers.
King-maker and breaker
Former Prime Minister I K Gujrals autobiography,Matters of Discretion,gives new insight into the behind-the-scenes intrigues that resulted in the swift toppling of four prime ministersV P Singh,Chandra Shekhar,H D Deve Gowda and Gujral himselfin the 1990s. It is clear that the late Harkishan Singh Surjeet,as general secretary of the CPI(M),played a pivotal role in the moves that led to the quick installation and removal of Prime Ministers. Wiser by his own experience,Gujral warned Sonia Gandhi in 1999 that though it was Surjeet who had,in fact,persuaded her to stake claim for government after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee lost the vote of confidence,the CPI(M) would be the first to pull the rug from under her feet as Surjeets hidden agenda was eventually to install Jyoti Basu as prime minister. Interestingly,while Gujral refers to Surjeets part in ending his own short-lived stint as prime minister,he is discreetas the title of his book suggestsover Surjeets role in appointing him as Prime Minister in the first place. Gujral gives credit to Chandrababu Naidu and P Chidambaram for proposing his name as PM. But political observers recall that it was Surjeet,a friend of Gujrals from his university days,who first mooted his candidature.
Gujrals installation was a coup of sorts for Surjeet,whoafter enlisting the backing of some prominent United Front membersannounced his name as PM before flying abroad to attend an obscure communist party meet. The other two frustrated prime ministerial candidates,Mulayam Singh Yadav and G K Moopanar,were left high and dry. Surjeet was out of the country and did not respond to their frantic phone calls.
Keeping out of sight
Former telecommunication minister A Raja,who is in Tihar jail,wanted to apply to the court for permission to attend Parliament during the Budget session. The Congress,fearing that Rajas presence in Parliament would provide more ammunition to the Opposition,sent an urgent request to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to persuade Raja to remain in prison. A senior functionary of the Congress called on Raja in jail on February 24. Raja has now changed his tune and does not want to appear in public at all. He has even been granted permission by the court to give his responses to the judge through video conferencing from the prison.
Another scandal from TN?
Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajans name has been dragged into an affidavit filed in the Madras High Court concerning the dispute in the Adityan family which owns Tamil Nadus largest newspaper,Daily Thanthi. The affidavit,which has 75 documents attached,alleges that Natarajan,as lawyer to B S Adityan,helped siphon off money from the Thanthi trust through benami institutions. A 40-page pamphlet giving details of the affidavit is being distributed by opposition MPs,but it is believed that Natarajans own party colleagues in Tamil Nadu are behind the smear campaign. They dont want her to be appointed a Central minister in the next Cabinet reshuffle.
Post without perks
E Ahamed of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was not made MoS in the Ministry of External Affairs at the start of Manmohan Singhs second tenure because of his reported role in the Haj scam in UPA-I After Shashi Tharoor lost his job,Ahamed lobbied hard to get back his old job. With elections around the corner in Kerala,the Congress decided to accommodate its ally in the state. But,Ahameds re-induction is not quite what he had hoped for. Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna has retained the departments of Haj and passports.
Great betrayals
Taking a leaf from I K Gujral,former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is also writing his autobiography. According to a source,the theme of betrayal will figure prominently in Gowdas memoirs. Gowda is bitter that he was thrice denied chief ministership of Karnataka by the machinations of politicians like R K Hegde,S Nijalingappa and Biju Patnaik. His biggest grudge is against Sitaram Kesri who abruptly ended his prime ministership. It will be interesting to see whether son H D Kumaraswamys defection and split of the Janata Dal (S) so that he could become chief minister with the support of the BJP is listed in the book as yet another deception. Cynics insist that this was one betrayal that had Deve Gowdas full backing.
Share
