by Harihar Swarup
The BJP trouble-shooter always in the news
SOME persons unwittingly get involved in controversies and never cease to be in the news. Pramod Mahajan is one of them because he has an opinion on almost everything under the sun and is quick to express his views on every subject irrespective of the consequences. Unlike many of his colleagues, he does his home work well, keeps himself abreast with developments and promptly responds to any query.

Manmohan Singh’s dilemma
A FORMER Finance Minister and senior Congress leader, Dr Manmohan Singh, appears to be in a dilemma these days. The politician in him seems to have got the better of the economist. His earlier balanced approach to economic issues have given way to criticism of the BJP-led alliance’s policies, with whom he hopes to make the votes sway the Congress way.

75 Years Ago
September 13, 1924
Swarajists and the Dyarchy Restoration Movement
MR C.R. DAS has done well in contradicting the rumour that some members of his party would support the formation of a new ministry in Bengal.

by Harihar Swarup
The BJP trouble-shooter always in the news

SOME persons unwittingly get involved in controversies and never cease to be in the news. Pramod Mahajan is one of them because he has an opinion on almost everything under the sun and is quick to express his views on every subject irrespective of the consequences. Unlike many of his colleagues, he does his home work well, keeps himself abreast with developments and promptly responds to any query.

Mahajan is also a media friendly person and loves the screaming headlines about himself and, more importantly, his figure on the small screen. Don’t blame the young, impulsive Information and Broadcasting Minister for that, every politician craves for it. Only a few have the capability and talent to remain in the limelight and even fewer have photogenic appeal but Mahajan has both.

He rarely declines an interview to journalists or refuses an audience even with the junior most reporter. TV camera crew “gherao” him every time he emerges from an important meeting and he readily obliges them.

Precisely, at this point his problems begin. He invariably kicks up a controversy whenever he opens his mouth? The reason is his strong ideological leanings, attempt to cover up an indefensible statement and ultimately, blame the media for his woes. Whenever he lands in a controversy, he goes back on a remark or a statement putting forward the excuse that he was misquoted or his impromptu observation was drawn out of context. Mahajan admitted in an interview last year: “My negative aspect is probably my candid nature while answering questions: I am frank when sometimes politicians should keep quiet.”

After the formation of the BJP-led government, Mahajan landed in three major controversies, the M.K. Bezbaruah affair, the Tata airline controversy, the one about the Maruti-Suzuki settlement and the verbal battle with Jayalalitha. The latest is off the cuff remark involving Sonia Gandhi — “if the country was so keen to have a foreigner as Prime Minister, then why not have Tony Blair, Bill Clinton or even Monica Lewinsky” — locked him in a tiff with a leading national daily. Wait for some more time and the I and B Minister may be at the centre of another controversy.

The most disappointing moment for Mahajan was when he was defeated in the 1998 Lok Sabha election despite all the media hype establishing, as if, he was formidable enough not to lose in a poll. “It was lowest moment of my life”, he had told media men. He needed somebody to stand by him and no less a person than Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee came to his rescue. An overwhelmed Mahajan could not hide his feelings and burst out: “He gave me everything that I had lost. This is something, I will never forget”.

Mahajan became the political adviser to the Prime Minister, a post which carried a lot of clout, and bounced back to the centre-stage of politics. He was the second person to interact with the PM every morning and acquired first hand knowledge of the thinking at the highest level on all important issues. No information adviser to PM or, for that matter, any officer of the PMO, at that time, was so well informed as Mahajan.

Correspondents on the PMO beat, political correspondents, columnists and TV crew, flocked to Mahajan’s Lodi Estate residence every afternoon. They were never disappointed; got enough grit for their despatches which made banner headlines the next day. So much so that he came to be known as the shadow Prime Minister evoking envy among some of his party colleagues. In the process the Principal Information Officer (PIO) and spokespersons of both the PMO and External Affairs Ministry virtually became redundant.

Mahajan had to wait hardly for three months and luck again smiled on him. He was brought to Parliament through the back door; he became a member of the Rajya Sabha and in another five months time got the glamorous portfolio of I & B replacing Sushma Swaraj, who took over as Delhi’s Chief Minister in BJP leadership’s futile effort to refurbish the state government’s sagging image. Mahajan restarted his briefings with renewed vigour. Even though the frequency was less, he apprised the press of important decisions taken at the cabinet meetings and it must be said to his credit that he was objective and came out with more information than any official spokesperson could have revealed.

Mahajan has acquired the image of the key trouble-shooter of the BJP. The credit of brokering the pre-poll alliance before 1998 mid-term poll with Jayalalitha and Biju Janata Dal in Orissa goes to him. The two tie-ups, in fact, changed the fortune of the BJP enabling the party to get a foothold in two southern states where their presence was minimal and enabled the party to form a government at the Centre. His words at that time — “benefit of small alliances would be immense after election” — proved prophetic.

Mahajan is also said to be the mastermind behind the splits in the BSP and the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, enabling Kalyan Singh to form his government in the most populous state. The oft-repeated joke in political circles then was: “Jehan joda-tode hai, wohan Pramod Mahajan Hai” (wherever there is politics of manipulation, Pramod Mahajan is there).

Mahajan is a staunch RSS activist, having been associated with the organisation since his childhood. Both his father and grandfather were school teachers in Mehboobnagar town of the erstwhile Nizam’s princely state. He did his M.Sc in Physics, moved to Pune, obtained a diploma in journalism and joined a local newspaper. The untimely death of his father at the age of 48 put the entire burden of his family on him and he had to take the job of a school teacher in the early seventies. He has continued his association with the RSS.

Manmohan Singh’s dilemma

A FORMER Finance Minister and senior Congress leader, Dr Manmohan Singh, appears to be in a dilemma these days. The politician in him seems to have got the better of the economist. His earlier balanced approach to economic issues have given way to criticism of the BJP-led alliance’s policies, with whom he hopes to make the votes sway the Congress way.

He has of late been pooh-poohing the government’s claim of a healthy economy, a low inflation rate and a tight check on prices of essential commodities. He also does not agree with the government’s claim that the booming stock market indices are an indication that the economy is in the pink of its health.

Reacting to the record low inflation rate of below 2 per cent, Dr Manmohan Singh says that it was being kept at an artificial level by the government. Wait for the bubble to burst, he has been saying. The rising prices of petroleum products in the international market is bound to have an effect on the oil pool account and subsequently on the fiscal deficit. Dr Manmohan Singh has been warning of an imminent rise in the prices of diesel.

The stock market boom, too, he has been saying was not a true indicator. “I don’t want to hurt sentiments but there is something wrong in it”. As for the booming economy, the former Finance Minister says the government has nothing to do with it. It is God’s hand and good rains that have contributed to a good agriculture performance.

BJP leaders are flabbergasted at Dr Manmohan Singh’s reactions. What happens to all statistics. It is the politician rather than the economist speaking, is what they have to say.

Bofors boom

The BJP seems to have become obsessed with Bofors and Ottavio Quattrocchi these days. Leading the attack is senior journalist and BJP spokesman, Arun Shourie, who is making the most of all that he wrote as an Editor on the subject.

However, there is a limit to the scribe’s patience who has to report the daily briefing of the BJP.

The other day all media-persons got together to pin down Mr Shourie. The unanimous question to Mr Shourie was that why was he referring to Ottavio Quattrocchi all the time when there were more people associated with the scandal? What about the Hindujas? The Hinduja brothers, who are known supporters of the BJP, have been flying in and out of India for quite some time.

It was at this point that Mr Shourie went back to his days as the Editor of a national daily and referred to all his writings on the Bofors deal. What Mr Shourie apparently forgot was that his writing on the subject as an Editor was quite a different thing from talking on the subject as a politician.

Mid-air temper

Private aircraft is very much in vogue these days, thanks to elections. However, pilots who operate these aircraft say it is not an easy job to ferry high-flying politicians. The politicians have their tempers and tantrums.

For instance, the other day the Minister of State, Ms Uma Bharti, who is known for her fiery temper literally caught a pilot by the scruff of his neck. The reason: Ms Bharti was to land at the Ahmedabad airport and the pilot instead tried to land in a helipad in Gandhinagar. According to sources privy to the incident, Ms Bharti’s chopper was not granted permission to land at the Ahmedabad airport as the Prime Minister was expected to land there. The control tower directed that the minister be taken to Gandhinagar instead.

Just when the pilot was preparing to land at Gandhinagar, the sources said Ms Bharti was incensed at the treatment meted out to her. She went to the cockpit and literally caught the pilot and asked him to divert the chopper back to Ahmedabad. It was only after a lot of pleading and explaining to the control tower that Ms Bharti was allowed to land at the Ahmedabad airport. The pilot, however, has been issued a show-cause notice by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.

However, men and women who fly the politicians say not all of them are so difficult. In this regard, cine actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha is the most popular person with them. He makes no demands. Moreover, he never takes off before 11 a.m. and makes it a point to round off his tour by 7 p.m. It is indeed a bonanza for the harassed pilots who often have to fly at all odd hours to ferry politicians from one end to the other.

Upside down devil’s number

One has heard people getting upset with the devil number “666” but one never imagined that its mirror image would also be a cause of concern in this century.

Speculations were rife in the Information Technology sector that on September 9, 1999 (9.9.99) there would be total chaos in the computer systems. The reason — earlier computer software used the four figures to direct the systems to shut down. Computer pundits predicted that there were several systems in current use which still used that software. September 9 would be a trial match of the Y2K problem, that would besiege computer systems at the turn of the century. However, the pundits were proved wrong as nothing went haywire on that fateful day.

The pundits of the astrological kind also joined the fray. Several astrologers were of the opinion that the day was special because of its numerical constellation and people with birth number nine would gain due to the blessing of the star. They advised people to offer pujas and embark on any good work on that day.

The trait was not confined to India alone. Even a prominent Thai astrologer said the day would bring immense luck to Thailand and the country would once again ride on a successful economic boom. One only hopes that the astrological pundits don’t go the way of the computer pundits.

Campaigning Samajwadi style

Samajwadi Party candidates are using different modes for their election campaigns. From helicopters and aeroplanes to the real Samajwadi style of campaigning on bicycles, all are being put to use to ensure that the right message goes across to the people.

With the reports of the party losing tremendous ground in its areas, the Samajwadi Party chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been hopping from one constituency to the other in a chopper. He has also been using the services of a private plane to make his journey more comfortable. His party spokesman and right-hand man, Mr Amar Singh, has also been going around in a similar manner.

However, the Samajwadi Party candidate from Morena, Mr Mata Prasad Chandouri, has actually taken lead in showing what the samajwad is all about. He is sweating it out on a bicycle, which incidentally is also the symbol of the party. However, the top party leadership seems to have forgotten to associate themselves with it in real terms.

Apparently, Mr Chandouri, who had been zipping past in his government vehicle with a red light flashing on top, has been going from village to village in this constituency, which was once famous for its dacoits, on a bicycle to ensure that people remember where to put the stamp while voting. He, while ensuring that the party was not ignored has also ensured that the samajwad was also displayed to the people in the right perspective.

MTNL woes

The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which claims to be the lifeline of Delhi can be trusted to cut connections of unsuspecting customers.

Recently an entire group of subscribers at an exchange were shocked to hear that their services were withdrawn due to non-payment.

As harassed subscribers landed at the Accounts Office, and showed the staff bills which the MTNL said were unpaid, as cleared. They coolly replied that since their computer did not reflect payment, they promptly disconnected.

Such efficiency, of course, is never seen when the phones go dead. But it appears the MTNL does not spare anyone as a legal consultant to the MTNL found to his dismay. The department cut the connection on similar grounds of a telephone of someone in judicial service, and the lawyer had some bit of explaining to do for such exemplary service by the MTNL. Needless to say the lawyer must have exceeded his brief pleading for the indefensible MTNL.

Contributed by SB, T.V. Lakshminarayan, K.V. Prasad, Girja Shankar Kaura & P.N. Andley.

75 YEARS AGO
September 13, 1924
Swarajists and the Dyarchy Restoration Movement

MR C.R. DAS has done well in contradicting the rumour that some members of his party would support the formation of a new ministry in Bengal. In a statement he has just issued he says:- “It is difficult to understand who starts these. Whether attempts are being made to form a new ministry or not, it is absolutely untrue that members of the Swarajya Party will vote for the salary of the ministers. They cannot and will not do so until there is a change in the system of government”.

That such an assurance should have been needed at all shows how active are the agencies in Bengal as elsewhere that are anxious to misrepresent and to discredit the Swarajists. Whatever may be the case in other provinces, in Bengal at any rate, the Swarajists have burnt their boats. For them there is now no going back.