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GOVERNMENT:
PM'S US VISIT
Saffron
Sam
A niggling
knee problem, a misinterpreted remark and lots of fractious officials,
the US was the happening place for India last week. Travelling with Prime
Minister Vajpayee, INDIA TODAY Editor Prabhu Chawla
peeked behind the headlines.
Did
he, or didn't he, in Front of a 7,000 crowd at a meeting organised by
the VHP and others at Staten Island. Launching into Hindi, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee worked himself into his old orator-mode. The stage was set for
some vintage Vajpayee sparks-and they came, thanks to his penchant for
double entendres.
 |
| At a
religion-tinged Staten Island function, Vajpayee played to the gallery
and courted controversy. |
Vajpayee
ensured that none of the 108 VHP sadhus and functionaries shared the dais
with him. But one of them barked a question, demanding to know why the
NDA Government was not fulfilling the "wishes of the majority"
to construct a temple at Ayodhya. Caught between his Sangh constituency
and his NDA Government, Vajpayee resorted to wordplay. "Agar hum
alp-mat mein rehkar itney achchey kaam kar saktey hain, jab hamko do-tihai
mat milega, to hum sabkey sapno ka Bharat banayenge (If we can do so well
with a limited majority, when we have a two-thirds majority we will make
an India of everyone's dreams)." He also said: "Main pratham
swayamsevak hoon, or yeh adhikar koi chheen nahin sakta (I'm the first
swayamsevak, and no one can take that right away from me)."
Some in
the media interpreted his words as an affirmation of his intention to
build a temple at Ayodhya and proof that he was a RSS "swayamsevak
first". What added to the speculation was that the PMO took 36 hours
to issue a clarification. It didn't help that some "saffron"
officials were gloating over the speech. "See, he's diverted attention
from his knee." But other more politically attuned officials sensed
the problem, and pushed for a clarification.
Secular
indignation, however, turned into confusion when a Hindu priest chanted
Vedic slokas before Vajpayee's speech to the joint session of Congress
last Thursday. It was the brainchild not of the VHP, but US Congressmen.
Just
can't do without Kashmir
For all
the red carpet and roses, the Americans bit the bullet when time came
to count the change for the visit. For the joint declaration at the end
of the bilateral talks, India wanted to avoid any mention of Kashmir.
US officials were equally adamant that a line be added about initiating
a dialogue to start the peace process in Kashmir. Foreign Minister Jaswant
Singh finally managed to use his charm with US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright to whittle it down to a relatively mild statement rather than
a firm commitment. That, and 19 rounds of talks, for just one joint declaration.
Who are
the real wordsmiths?
Who writes
the prime minister's speeches? The joke within the delegation is: if it's
good, it's "me". If it doesn't go down that well, it's "them".
The buzz says Sudheendra Kulkarni, Kanchan Gupta (both OSDs at the PMO),
Prabhat Shukla, a joint secretary, and N.K. Singh, special secretary to
the prime minister, write the speeches and Principal Secretary Brajesh
Mishra vets them before Vajpayee is shown a draft.
On foreign
visits either the Foreign Ministry or the Indian ambassador in the host
country initiate the process. After that, everything is shrouded in secrecy.
So much so that Jaswant Singh, exasperated at the secrecy over a speech
his ministry initiated, remarked sarcastically in Vajpayee's presence:
"If it is not a state secret, may I be permitted to see the speech
the honourable prime minister is going to deliver to the US Congress?"
The point
hit home. Vajpayee is not exactly pleased with his speechwriters. The
seven-minute speech he read at the UN was a truncated version of the original.
He had suggested deleting some paras as it was in a language too strong
for his taste. But the speechwriters forgot to delete the paras and all
delegates received uncut copies. Vajpayee has now decreed that Jaswant
be shown copies of all his speeches.
The inside
knee-jerk story
Response
to questions about the prime minister's knee was, well, knee jerk. But
finally, the veil of secrecy was off on September 11, after Dr Chittaranjan
Ranawat, director of orthopaedic surgery and an expert on total joint
replacement in a New York hospital, examined Vajpayee for two hours. His
verdict: Vajpayee is to be operated on his left knee.
The operation
will take place on October 10 at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.
Dr Ranawat will fly in to Mumbai on October 7 with his team, and Vajpayee
will arrive the next day. The pre-op prognosis is that Vajpayee will be
ready to work within five days of the operation, and walk with a support
within a week. But it will take six weeks before he is able to function
properly. Just in time for the winter session of Parliament.
The Finance
team gets the blues
Depending
on whom you listen to, the purpose of the visit changes. Listen to N.K.
Singh, and it's an economic visit. Hear Foreign Service mandarins, and
it's all about economic diplomacy. Whichever way you see it, one thing
is clear: there could have been more people from the Finance Ministry.
There are half a dozen top officials from various departments-Power Secretary
Ashok Basu, Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh, Commerce Secretary Prabir
Sengupta and Secretary of the Economic Relations Cell of the Foreign Ministry
Sudhir Devare. But there's only Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and his
economic adviser, Shankar Acharya, to represent the nodal ministry for
all projects and economic reforms.
Yashwant
Sinha on a Brioni high
After the
prime minister's knee, questions about the finance minister's health weren't
far behind. Yashwant Sinha was in the US for two weeks for treatment of
a cyst in a kidney. Doctors extracted two and a half litres of fluid from
the cyst. But he seemed to have put his troubles behind when he joined
the delegation in New York. Dapper in a navy-blue suit and golden yellow
Brioni tie, he played the corporate role at a breakfast meet of Indian
and American CEOs in New York. The speech on business opportunities was
crisp and delivered well. So was a quip in response to how he was feeling.
"Each and every nut and bolt in my body has been examined,"
he wisecracked to applause, "and everything is all right."
A Jaswant
Singh special
The diplomatic
affair of Jaswant Singh and Albright is peaking. The two dined in New
York at the Waldorf Astoria, where Jaswant was staying, chaperoned by
Ambassador Naresh Chandra and Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh. Jaswant
is getting the red carpet treatment. A secret service detail accompanies
him and police helps clear traffic. At the Waldorf, where Jaswant shared
the floor with Yashwant Sinha, the preference was obvious-a guard outside
Jaswant's door, and an easy walk-through for Sinha.
Caucus
views and dinner queues
Capitol
Hill went out of its way to compensate for Vajpayee's bad knee. In a reverse
of protocol, leaders of the house and various committees visited Vajpayee
at Blair House where he was staying. The US Congress also gave in to a
request for Vajpayee to address a joint session seated.
India now
counts. The India Caucus in the Congress numbers 120, which is more than
even the powerful Israel Caucus. No wonder everyone who was anyone tried
to cadge an invitation for the black-tie dinner hosted by the Clintons
in honour of Vajpayee at the White House. While CII and FICCI notables
had 50 invites to dole out, Naresh Chandra and Brajesh Mishra were under
pressure to find a place to shoe-horn those who were left out. Among them:
a former CII president.
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