by Harihar Swarup

He stirs controversy — only to be caught on wrong foot

OPEN any magazine or browse through any daily, you will find George Fenandes in news in varied forms — making headlines, in photographs and in caricature; he is a cartoonist’s delight. Whether in the Opposition or occupying a ministerial office or in the electoral fray, he is always locked in controversy.

A crumbling bastion
WILL a seat in the North Block headquarters of the Union Home Ministry, once occupied by Kuldip Nayyar, be adorned by a bureaucrat? Kuldip Nayyar, now a Rajya Sabha member served as Information Officer of the Home Ministry in the early sixties. After him, an array of senior information service officers manned the post — things may change soon.

75 Years Ago
September 26, 1924

The Tarakeshwar Affair
As will be seen from a statement issued by Mr C.R. Das, which will be found elsewhere in this issue, the Tarakeshwar affair has at last been settled.

by Harihar Swarup
He stirs controversy — only to be caught on wrong foot

OPEN any magazine or browse through any daily, you will find George Fenandes in news in varied forms — making headlines, in photographs and in caricature; he is a cartoonist’s delight. Whether in the Opposition or occupying a ministerial office or in the electoral fray, he is always locked in controversy.

If one has to compile quotable quotes from his utterances, and I swear by George, it will make most interesting reading. List the number of controversies he has kicked up and yet another fine anthology will be ready, worth reading and preserving. A firebrand, George Fernandes (69), is the sort of leader who has thrived on controversies all through his long and varied political career.

His latest is stand-off with the Election Commission, aptly portrayed by the noted cartoonist Laxman, yelling before the CEC: “I cried, wolf, wolf! Because I saw one chasing me...” He roped in the Director of the Intelligence Bureau in a controversy to substantiate his charge that excess ballot papers had been printed for the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Nalanda and Barh from where he and his party colleague, Nitish Kumar, are contesting the elections respectively. First the Home Secretary and then Home Minister L.K. Advani himself denied that the IB had furnished any such information to the Defence Minister and George’s loose cannon backfired again. He drew flak from the Election Commission for dragging the IB into the controversy.

Recall Fernandes’s recent outburst against Sonia Gandhi: “What is her contribution to the nation? The two children she gave birth to. She has contributed two people to the 100 crore population of our country.” The quote will be remembered for a long time.

Within six months of taking over as Defence Minister, he brought the slow but steady progress of normalcy in India-China relations to a virtual halt. One wonders if it was necessary to use expression like — “China is the potential threat No 1” and “I think there is reluctance to face the reality that China’s intentions need to be questioned”. His uncalled for remarks not only embarrassed the Vajpayee Government but drew a rebuff from the Chinese — that the Defence Minister’s remarks have seriously sabotaged the favourable atmosphere for improving bilateral relations”. Strenuous efforts had to be made by the Prime Minister and his External Affairs Ministry to save India-China relations from souring.

His “certificate” during the Kargil conflict to Nawaz Sharif raised many eyebrows. His tiff with Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and sacking of the Naval Chief caused widespread resentment in the defence forces. Never before chief of an armed force was sacked in such an abashed manner and the act will go down in the annals of the Defence Ministry as a bad patch.

Living amidst controversy is a trait of Lohiates (followers of Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia) and Fernandes is an ardent follower of the socialist leader who, whenever he opened his mouth, created a rumpus. The difference is that Dr Lohia was invariably right whenever he raised an issue — even when he challenged Jawaharlal Nehru — but Fernandes is almost every time caught on the wrong foot. George’s lifestyle — crumpled kurta, broken chappals, disorderly hair — however, resembles his mentor.

Fernandes became Union Minister for the first time in Morarji Desai’s Government in 1977 and allocated the Industry portfolio. His first act was to unceremoniously kick out Coca-Cola and IBM while he initiated imaginative schemes for the growth of small scale, khadi and village industries. Despite his idiosyncrasy, Morarjibhai had an immense liking for George’s guts, courage and dynamism and often used to say the Lohiate socialist was No 2 in his Cabinet.

He challenged the might of the Indira Gandhi’s Government during the Emergency having organised the abortive Baroda dynamite episode and had to be put in chain. “George in chains” was a photo-scoop then. As Railway Minister in the V.P. Singh Government he did a lot for the employees. The nationwide strike he led in 1974, failed.

George is son of a priest, and his father wanted that he should also become a preacher. He grew up in the religious environment of a church in Mangalore but he was destined to become an atheist. Turning rebel, he came to Bombay when he was barely 19 years old and plunged into the trade union movement, associating himself with port and dock workers’ union.

From the cloistered environs of a church to the position of the Defence Minister has been a long march for George. He is locked up in a bitter battle at the hustings. One year short of seventy, George still retains “the fire of life” as he campaigns in Nalanda: it is no longer Chanakaya’s alma mater. The Defence Minister kick starts a motor cycle, zooms his way into otherwise inaccessible areas. He does not carry a cell phone nor does he possess a satellite phone. His fate would have been decided when this appears Nalanda went to the polls on September 25.

A crumbling bastion

WILL a seat in the North Block headquarters of the Union Home Ministry, once occupied by Kuldip Nayyar, be adorned by a bureaucrat? Kuldip Nayyar, now a Rajya Sabha member served as Information Officer of the Home Ministry in the early sixties. After him, an array of senior information service officers (like U.C. Tiwari, who retired as Principal Information Officer) manned the post — things may change soon.

The Indian Information Service (IIS) and its apex body, Press Information Bureau (PIB) seem to be in for bad days.

After the turn of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Information and Broadcasting Minister’s Office, it seems even the Home Ministry could get a new spokesman, a non-IIS person.

There was a move last week to designate a senior IAS officer as the official spokesman of the Union Home Ministry, a niche so far reserved for IIS officers of Directors’ rank.

The Union Home Secretary, Mr Kamal Pande, had apparently made up his mind to designate Additional Secretary, Dr P D Shenoy as the official spokesman who would be available to the media and also, if necessary, brief them on a regular basis.

However, the exercise was held up in the 11th hour and the reasons are not clear. Perhaps the government, or, to be precise, the bureaucracy did not want to do anything when the country is in the thick of elections which could boomerang politically.

Afterall till date, it was the job of the Information Service officers attached to the Ministry just as they are to other Ministries in the Government of India to be the interface between the government and the media.

It was only after the BJP-led government took over that it brought in a senior journalist to the PMO to guide the media affairs while the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr Pramod Mahajan started to brief the media of the Cabinet decisions, a task performed earlier by the Principal Information Officer.

IIS has already lost Defence and Railway DPR slots. Will Home be the next?

All under one roof

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, his bete noire, Sonia Gandhi, her party’s “Mr Clean” Manmohan Singh, rival Congress and BJP spokespersons, Kapil Sibal and Arun Jaitley all under one roof on Friday, September 24, after campaign for the fourth round of polling ended — sounds strange, but true. The occasion was a dinner hosted by Punjab Kesri’s Ashwani Kumar “Minna” to mark the conclusion of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) meeting. As the list of invitees included an array of newspaper owners and editors, politicians sunk their differences, momentarily, to smile and shake hands and to exchange notes with the media. In recent months this was a rare occasion for Mr Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi to attend the same dinner. A meeting between the two, however, was foiled due to the security stipulation for private functions, that two SPG protectees can’t be at the same venue together. Thus, moments before Mr Vajpayee arrived, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by Mrs Ambika Soni, left the venue. One guest was missed in the function by most invitees — Ashwani Minna’s next door neighbour in Lodi Estate, Priyanka Gandhi, who was away to Amethi, campaigning for her mother.

Congress and media woes

Why did the Congress party suddenly turn its ire on most-favoured “Star News”? Apparently the party media managers who went out of their way to ensure the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s first-ever media interview was given to the network changed tacks.

The media managers were certainly not pleased with the exit poll forecast of Insight which was telecast on Star News last week which forecast that electoral fortunes of the Congress were on the downswing.

Call it coincidence or otherwise, the next day the Star News crew which was to accompany Mrs Sonia Gandhi on her election tour to the north-east had to stay put in Delhi. The official reason was that the chartered plane hired by the Congress was not big enough to accommodate the crew. Hence, the last-minute chop but tongues are wagging that there was more to battle of “sound bite”.

Afterall if the BJP media managers consider Star News network more favourably inclined towards the Congress the exit poll results certainly did not reflect the same.

Blessing in disguise

The Congress allegation that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee applied for an out-of-turn allocation for a DDA flat has brought cheer to the BJP camp. If the BJP General Secretary, Mr M.Venkaiah Naidu, is to be believed, the Congress has done them a good turn by highlighting the issue. How many politicians after 50 years of service to the nation apply for a category three ordinary flat? The flat allotted to Mr Vajpayee by the erstwhile Congress Government has brought to the fore that the Prime Minister is an honest politician, Mr Naidu said.

On the contrary, Mr Naidu drew attention to about 4000 plots allotted out of turn to several “distinguished” people by the erstwhile Congress-led Haryana Government in Panchkula. Paying a left handed compliment to the Haryana Government in the early nineties, Mr Naidu said all the allottees were indeed “distinguished”. They were all staying very near to Haryana. “Tuticorin, Mumbai, Gujarat and Chennai” which were among the domicile stated by the allottees, “are indeed a stone’s throw from Panchkula”, Mr Naidu said in his characteristic sarcastic style.

Sibal misses his black coat

Politicking is not all fun and excitement for the Congress spokesman, Mr Kapil Sibal. At least that is what he would like the world to believe. Mr Sibal who has been the party’s main spokesman ever since electioneering got into full swing is finding little time for his main profession. A successful lawyer, that he is, Mr Sibal says political occupation is giving him little time to attend to courts.

Last week, Mr Sibal, raised some eyebrows when he came dressed in a sparkling white kurta pyjama of the politicians’ kind. Reacting to the several compliments he got from the fraternity of the fourth estate, the flamboyant lawyer said “if you insist, I will make this my permanent dress”. When somebody asked him if he intended to go to the courts in the traditional dress, Mr Sibal quipped he was finding no time to go to the courts ever since he become the Congress spokesman.

Since he was in attendance for the Press all the time, Mr Sibal threatened to send all the scribes a fat bill for the earnings foregone by him in the courts.

Observers, however, point out that it would be appropriate if Mr Sibal collects his professional charges from his party. It appears the party cannot do without him. On the day he flew to Lucknow for a media briefing, the media managers cancelled the regular briefing in New Delhi — perhaps they could not find any alternative from its large panel of spokespersons.

Samajwadi Sadhu

Barefoot, saffron-robed sadhus, with tulsi beads in hand and sandalwood paste smeared on their forehead is an image of the past. The modern day seer wears branded slippers, expensive watches and speaks politics instead of chanting mantras. The beads have given way to the ubiquitous cellular phone. Trudging miles and miles of dry lands on foot has been replaced by whirlwind tours on helicopters.

Sakshi Maharaj, the rebel BJP leader and former MP from Farukkabad in Uttar Pradesh, is a typical modern day sadhu. Ever since he was denied a ticket by the BJP, he has picked up cudgels against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and has been going around with a single mission: To annihilate the BJP in UP.

The former MP, who has been accused in a murder case and in the Babri Masjid demolition matter, has however, not discarded his saffron robes. He has been touring Uttar Pradesh garnering support for the Samajwadi Party supremo, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. He visions a new set-up and a new party which would bring together all the backward classes. He is also trying to enlist the support of UP Chief Minister and his mentor Kalyan Singh in his mission.

Incidentally, grapevine has it that the Maharaj’s modern-day “pushpak viman” or the chopper in modern parlance has been provided to him by none other than Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Divali on the Net

It is the era of the Internet and if an enterprising entrepreneur has his way, Indian netizens would be celebrating the last Divali of the millennium on the Net.

Welcome to the world of DIWALIMELA.COM. It is one of its kind one stop shop for Divali on the Internet. The section deals with people who would like to send gifts or sweets to their relatives residing in all parts of the globe. The site also gives brief description about the festival of lights and the customs and traditions associated with it.

The surfers can also have access to about 500 greeting cards specially commissioned for the occasion. According to Mr Simarprit Singh, the promoter of the site, he expects around three million hits during the month of October and November. The site has virtually everything for the festival reveller. But, what Mr Singh has missed out is the crackers. Without the boom and bang of the crackers, the festival of lights would become a dull affair.

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

75 YEARS AGO
September 26, 1924
The Tarakeshwar Affair

As will be seem from a statement issued by Mr C.R. Das, which will bee found elsewhere in this issue, the Tarakeshwar affair has at last been settled. The terms of settlement will not satisfy those who wanted what neither the present Mohunt nor his chief chela should have anything to do with the temple in future, because as a matter of fact the chief chela became the Mohunt. But as Mr Das points out in his statement, his power of doing mischief is very largely curtailed.

He will be under a Committee of Management who are empowered even to remove him in extreme cases. In all or most important matters he will clearly have either to take his orders from them and at any rate to act in subordination to them.

In case of a serious difference of opinion between him and the Committee of Management, the mater in dispute will be referred to three arbitrators who, as the present appointed, are Mr Das, Pandit Nehru and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. It is for the Hindu public of Bengal now to say whether they consider these terms to be satisfactory.