April 6, 1998

Dilip Bobb

Everybody's going crazy trying to find the Government's agenda. Ever since it was released from captivity by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, it seems to have gone into hiding. Maybe it's just shy -- so far it has preferred to shy away from its original promises. Or, perhaps, it likes to surprise everyone and pop up in the most unexpected places; like the Speaker's chair. Clearly, there is a hidden agenda. Here's what it looks like:

Transparency in Decision-making: This means that all decisions taken before 8 a.m. will be absolutely transparent and see-through. However, any decision taken after that will not qualify for the agenda. A case in point was Madan Lal Khurana's early-morning call to P.A. Sangma, congratulating him on being one of the few MPs to retain his chair. The decision to cancel their subscription to Sangma in favour of a speaker who refused to speak was taken after the stipulated hour so it came as a surprise to everyone, including the obscure Mr Balayogi. In the BJP's hidden agenda, it's called reverse swing.

Improving Centre-State Relations: The agenda is to redress the imbalance in Centre-state relations and help the states by offering them special packages by speed post. What this really means is that they speedily get posts in return for supporting the Government's bills. Of course, the recipients have pretty inflated bills of their own to present, but it does go a long way in fulfilling the aspirations of states which have been neglected, like J&K, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In the hidden agenda, it's called "you scratch my backyard, I'll scratch yours".

Cracking Down on Corruption: This is a keynote item on the agenda and the BJP Government is insisting that no stones be unturned while looking into certain cases, including suitcases. Hence the appointment of a law minister from Jayalalitha's camp, to ensure that the cases against her and her friends will become part of the hidden agenda. Another indication of intent is that Jai Shree Ram will now be allied with Jai Sukh Ram.

The Swadeshi Thrust: The open agenda stipulates that foreigners will be discouraged in non-priority areas. The hidden agenda says the same thing, but means something else -- the non-priority area refers to the political marketplace. In other words, the BJP's agenda is clearly concerned with keeping out one foreign investor, Sonia Gandhi.

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