Net of Intrigue

Earlier this month, the BJP launched its new website. All was well until somebody chanced upon an article titled "The Sangh is my soul", apparently written by A.B. "Everybody loves me" Vajpayee. Muslims, the article said, could be treated in three ways: tiraskar (rejection), puruskar (appeasement, as by the Congress and assorted "pseudo-secularists") or parishkar (cleansing). Old hat you'd say. True, but what was it doing on the website of the BJP, liberal '98 model -- and wasn't the byline that of the party's walking-talking advertisement for moderation?

An embarrassed Vajpayee denied the views, denied having written the article and said he'd even denied it when it was first published -- in the Organiser (the RSS mouthpiece) two years ago. Others pointed to a conspiracy of party hardliners who wanted to sully Vajpayee's image. Whatever the truth, the BJP was left eating crow.

Incidentally, the article has since disappeared from the website.

Small Wonder

Tej Pratap Yadav, Laloo and Rabri's 10-year-old son, made his political debut in 1997 when the fodder scandal made news. He led the chief minister's staff in shouting slogans against the "BJP and CPI". Papa Laloo had to correct him about the CBI being the enemy, not the CPI. Never mind. Tej's words proved prophetic and the CBI was soon a foe. Laloo came to see his son in a wondrous new light: a prodigy in his backyard. So recently the little Yadav was asked to give RJD MLAs a pre-poll sermon on communalism and social justice. Must have been child's play.

Those Beautiful People

Film stars and politicians have one attribute in common: they are both dream pedlars. One group promises to achieve the impossible on the screen and at least pretends to do so. The other group doesn't bother with pretences. Many moons ago, it was only the odd cine artiste who trickled into public life. This year, there has been a deluge.

The most dramatic script was written in Uttar Pradesh. It climaxed when Muzaffar Ali said yes -- or didn't; but that's getting ahead of the story. Mulayam Singh Yadav's search for a candidate against A.B. Vajpayee in Lucknow had taken him across half the film industry. He first asked Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. Next came the courtship of Dilip Kumar, Yusuf Khan in real life and Mulayam's trump card for Muslims and women above 60. Kumar smiled but did not agree.

Resilient Mulayam was soon at Shabana Azmi's door, telling her how much he admired her father, Kaifi Azmi, and his poetry. It didn't work. Finally, the exasperated Mulayam announced the candidature of Ali, Umrao Jaan's director, pricey fashion designer and well-known cultural celebrity. Ali flew off the handle. The nomination was news to him, he said before giving in: "It's is a tough fight but somebody has to bell the cat."

In Haryana, there was another. Old lion Dara Singh was wooed by older lion Devi Lal who wanted to pit the former wrestler-cum-actor against Bhajan Lal in Karnal. Dara only agreed to campaign for Devi Lal's latest party: Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya). At a rally in Rohtak, Dara proclaimed: "Chaudhary sahib (Devi Lal) is my Ram and I'm his Hanuman." Old timers may recall this was the precise self-confessed personal equation between Charan Singh and Raj Narain. While Devi Lal has always seen himself as the greatest Jat since Charan Singh, the question every fan wants to ask but doesn't dare is: would Dara like to be called the new Raj Narain?

While Dara confronts his existential crisis, the BJP seems even more smug and greatly more attractive. On January 21, comely Gautami joined the party -- and veteran leaders jostled like schoolboys to be photographed with her. Gautami has acted in 95 Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. This should make her quite at home in a BJP which is rapidly learning to speak a variety of languages.

The day after Gautami's arrival there was a still larger crowd outside the BJP's headquarters in Delhi. It was Vinod Khanna's turn to sign up. What's more, he was asked to contest from Gurdaspur, Punjab. After all those bad guys on screen, Khanna's latest rival will be the Congress' Sukhbans Kaur; and no, his next film will not be titled Meri Party, Mera Desh.

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