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COVER STORY:
A. B. VAJPAYEE
Unlikely Provocation
Vajpayee was provoked
into offering his resignation by three completely unrelated incidents.
The week before, he had received a letter from BJP Rajya Sabha member
and actor Shatrughan Sinha-an unsuccessful aspirant for a ministerial
post-complaining about "the mishandling of various issues by the
Government and its effect on the BJP's image". Sinha said he wanted
to draw Vajpayee's attention to these "in the larger interests of
the nation".
Secondly, that week's Economist, the London-based
magazine, carried a report on Advani's growing popularity in the BJP as
the man who saved the day for India at the Agra summit. "Many in
the party," said the report, "want Advani to be made deputy
prime minister. He is younger than Vajpayee and in better health. Vajpayee
has looked bemused at recent public meetings: on one occasion he could
not remember the name of his foreign minister and had to be prompted."
This was brought to Vajpayee's proverbial notice.
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The Men Who Crippled
The PM
A cabal that misused its proximity proved his undoing
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 BRAJESH
MISHRA
Interested in security and foreign policy, he fuelled tensions
between the PM and his senior ministers.
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RANJAN
BHATTACHARYA
The foster son-in-law was dragged into every controversy and it sullied
the PM's reputation. |
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 N.K.
SINGH
The PMO's most controversial officer was seen to be manipulating policy
to suit the business needs of some corporates. |
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 LALJI
TANDON
The PM's Lucknow handler used his proximity to further factional ends
and promote dubious businesses like Cyberspace. |
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The last straw was a widely telecast speech on
July 30 by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam in the Rajya Sabha. Speaking on
the crisis in the UTI, Nirupam referred to the involvement of a former
PMO official now in the Planning Commission in decisions that led to financial
losses. He then made a tangential reference to a damad (son-in-law). The
message was not lost on anyone. "The prime minister is an honest
man but the PMO is full of crooks," Nirupam told India Today before
Sena supremo Bal Thackeray issued him a terse instruction to shut up.
At the NDA meeting on August
1, Advani stressed the need for a Lakshman rekha that the NDA should not
cross. "This is not a BJP Government. This is your Government too,"
he said. Added a recharged Vajpayee: "Members of parties who have
representation in the Cabinet should not oppose Government decisions.
Otherwise they are free to go out."
Perhaps it was necessary for Vajpayee and Advani
to underline the responsibilities that accompany what the NDA resolution
called the "canons of coalition politics" but were a private
letter by a BJP MP, a hurtful article in a magazine and the rantings of
a loose cannon reasons enough for the prime minister to offer his resignation?
Particularly as nothing remotely resembling a political turmoil had preceded
these incidents. The following day, Vajpayee apologised to the Lok Sabha
for the "inconvenience" he had caused. A similar courtesy was
not extended to the party.
For good reason too. Over the years, thanks to
his elevated standing, Vajpayee has grown accustomed to playing out his
petulance in party forums. In 1965, miffed by the selection of Bachchraj
Vyas as Jan Sangh president he resigned from the party in a huff and had
to be cajoled back. It's not that Vajpayee lacks corporate loyalty, it
is that this is invariably subordinated to his personal preferences. The
BJP in Uttar Pradesh, for example, was split along factional lines in
1998-99 because the prime minister patronised the dissidence against the
then chief minister Kalyan Singh. Finally, Kalyan was edged out of the
party just as Nanaji Deshmukh retired from politics in 1980.
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