The financial integrity of Vajpayee, Home
Minister L K Advani and other senior ministers remains
beyond reproach. This government has not fathered the
bank-stock scam a la Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh which
had left the State exchequer poorer by over Rs 100
billion. Nor has it allowed moneybags to buy official
favours.
Vajpayee's squeaky-clean image has survived despite the
belated attempts by Mohan Guruswamy, the sacked advisor
to the finance minister, to fling some mud at the prime
minister's foster son-in-law in the fond belief that some
of it will stick.
Now Guruswamy's own skeletons are rattling out of the
cupboard. The man keeps such terrible company that only
liaison men and fixers would feel at ease with him. That
the Congress has latched on to his every word as if it
were the gospel truth only helps to underline its
desperation.
Guruswamy's confused writing reveal nothing of substance.
Unwittingly, he himself concedes that much in black and
white. For, not once but twice he says in his
post-dismissal articles that he is not "levelling any
corruption charges" against Yashwant Sinha or anyone else
in the government. Pray, then, what is there to debate?
Why, then, demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee?
Inquiry into what? The corruption charges which Guruswamy
confesses in black and white he does not make? Come on,
mealy-mouthed Manmohan Singh, think up something better
to throw mud at the government.
Doubtless, Guruswamy is being too clever by half for his
own good. For want of solid evidence, he tries to pass
off general criticism as a chargesheet against the BJP
government. For instance, he cities the fact that the
Vajpayee government had torpedoed the Tata-Singapore
Airlines proposal for a new domestic airline. I, for one,
would have liked the proposal to be cleared, at least by
the Vajpayee government.
I suspect the same entrenched interests which had blocked
the clearance initially when the Rao-Manmohan duo was in
command of the nation's economy had in all probability
stalled it this time too. Weren't both the Deve Gowda and
I K Gujral governments guilty of putting the same
proposal on the back burner?
The point is that the entire political class cutting
across party lines joined hands to stymie the Tatas's
renewed effort to enter the aviation sector.
Admittedly, given the government's fragile majority, it
wouldn't have been advisable for it to ruffle too many
feathers by choosing to do that which at least three
previous administrations had consciously decided not to
do. But that brings us to the most valid criticism of the
Vajpayee government's one year in office. Which is that
it failed to convince people that it was a 'government
with a difference.' It was more of the same.
Minus the sleaze of the previous administrations, the
Vajpayee government continued to provide the same
listless fare which had put off the people these past 50
years and which, in turn, had persuaded them to give the
BJP 'one chance to rule India.' The BJP had all along
boasted that it was a 'party with a difference.' Within a
year in power, it revealed itself to be a 'party with
differences.'
That Vajpayee and Advani had differences of perceptions
was understandable. But why should there be a wall of
mutual suspicion and distrust between the two tallest
leaders of the Sangh Parivar is a cause of concern. And
that in my view was the single most important factor
affecting the performance and the government's image.
As the government enters the second year, a very
concerned Congress is sharpening its knives -- witness
the tamasha it is creating over the post-dismissal piffle
by Admiral Bhagwat and Guruswamy. The party is out to
pull down the BJP to its own level of muck and sleaze.
Hence, the attempt to stall parliamentary proceedings a
la the Bofors scam on the mere ravings and gratings of
the sacked former admiral and former advisor to the
finance ministry.
The Congress leadership is also worried by the three 'Bs'
-- Bus, Bihar and the Budget. Another worry is the
lacklustre performance of Auntie Shiela in Delhi, Diggy
Raja in Bhopal and Gehlot in Jaipur in their first 100
days in office. So it must destabilise the Vajpayee
government before the Sonia factor wears off. The
challenge for Vajpayee is to build upon the good work his
administration has done in recent months despite all the
hassles it has had to face from quarters within and
without.