INDIA TODAY COVERS ON BOMB BLASTS

Cover Story: August 11, 2008

IMPOTENT INDIA

India displays a shameful lack of political will to deal with Islamic terrorism despite being its single largest victim

Read.....

Cover Story/ May 26, 2008
Terror Attacks - Why Can't they be STOPPED?

Rather than learning from mistakes, the strategy must be to assess and thwart future threats so that the terror outfits are not able to outsmart the intelligence set-up, report Raj Chengappa and Sandeep Unnithan

Read .....

Cover Story / October 16, 2006

The Cooker Bombers

It was a blinder of a case with no leads. The Mumbai Police, however, pieced together phone calls, money trails and pressure cooker handles to unravel the conspiracy behind the meticulously planned mayhem that killed 187. Read ....

Cover Story / July 24, 2006
Mumbai 7/11 - India Attacked

No other city in the free world has faced so many terrorist attacks. Like before, the serial blasts exposed the city's vulnerability as a soft target and again it was the indomitable spirit of its citizens that came to the rescue

Read .....

COVER STORY: SERIAL BLASTS/November 14, 2005

Living With Fear

Three successive blasts kill 63 and destroy the feel-good sentiment during Delhi's festive season. As investigators launch a manhunt, India realises that its capital has become a soft target for international jehadi terror.

Read ....

COVER STORY: MUMBAI BLASTS/September 22, 2003
The Family of Terror

The family next door that let loose death and destruction in Mumbai confesses to its transition from a nondescript, working class household to a terror cell. The Hanifs herald the birth of convention defying terrorists who are motivated by revenge, not money, and can wreak as serious a damage

COVER STORY: MUMBAI BLASTS /September 8, 2003

Return of Terror

It was Mumbai's black Monday as twin blasts rocked the nation's financial capital. An exclusive story on who planned them, what their motives were and the new face of terrorism.

MY SPACE / JULY 28, 2008

The Making of the Prime Minister

By winning the trust vote, the Prime Minister has acquired political legitimacy—at last. Can Manmohan Singh, as a newly minted politician and a popular Congress brand, sustain the momentum? The prime minister may invoke the visionary leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the future hope called Rahul but will the First family of Indian politics cherish the prospect of a power trinity? Read ... IT/August 4, 2008

BJP is 'Bharat Jalao Party': Amar Singh

Anybody who was opposed to the national interest was defeated during the trust vote. The party which played the dirty game was BJP. watch video Aajtak, July 27, 2008

Sonia Gandhi: Impossible is nothing in race to power

NECESSITY is the mother of all initiatives. Nine years ago, Sonia Gandhi’s office kept Amar Singh waiting for an appointment he had sought with her and he never forgave her. He persuaded Mulayam Singh to back out from a promise to back her for prime ministership on the fall of the Vajpayee government in 1999, and made nonsense of her famous “Igot 272” claim. Since then the two sides have been daggers drawn, both politically and personally. read....

AMAR SINGH: The day of the DEALMAKER

Power, at its most deceptive level, is an absence. At 27 Lodhi Estate on a Tuesday morning, it is an absence accentuated by the stillness of gilded kitsch and other objects that give an idea about the aesthetics of the resident. He likes his own image, an immaculately suited gentleman leaning against the wall on the arty South Bank, the Thames and the London Eye forming a perfect backdrop. Providing company to this framed piece in the drawing room are sundry gods and exotic warriors in metallic splendour. The man himself is elsewhere, in another room with a colleague, certainly not discussing the weather, and the waiting visitor in the meantime is being attended by a young female receptionist with the ease of an air stewardess. read.....

Amar Singh: "Mayawati, Modi, Advani more lethal than Bush"

The Samajwadi Party (SP) will contest the forthcoming elections under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, says general secretary Amar Singh. read.....

Nuclear Deal: Securing the FUTURE

By tying up with the Samajwadi Party, Sonia Gandhi is looking beyond the Nuke deal to safeguard her political future which depends on how important a role she will get to play after the next elections.

read....

Don’t write him off / Mail Today, July 28, 2008

Politicians have a tendency to think they are always right and everyone else is wrong. Manmohan Singh’s coming of age as a politician happened only last week when he showed the kind of chicanery hitherto not associated with him and against all odds, won the confidence vote despite parliamentary arithmetic showing that parties ( as against individual MPs) arraigned against his government carried more votes than those that supported the UPA. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he taunted the Left MPs, reminding them of the “ company ( BJP) they are forced to keep because of the miscalculations of their General Secretary”. The Prime Minister was both right and wrong. He was right to the extent that when the Left and the Right got together, they both got it wrong and could not pull the government down. But he was wrong in his assessment of CPI( M) supremo Karat’s calculations which were bang on; he kept his MPs intact and delivered the Left votes en bloc. The miscalculations were that of the BJP leadership. Shamefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen makerPoliticians have a tendency to think they are always right and everyone else is wrong. Manmohan Singh’s coming of age as a politician happened only last week when he showed the kind of chicanery hitherto not associated with him and against all odds, won the confidence vote despite parliamentary arithmetic showing that parties ( as against individual MPs) arraigned against his government carried more votes than those that supported the UPA. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he taunted the Left MPs, reminding them of the “ company ( BJP) they are forced to keep because of the miscalculations of their General Secretary”. The Prime Minister was both right and wrong. He was right to the extent that when the Left and the Right got together, they both got it wrong and could not pull the government down. But he was wrong in his assessment of CPI( M) supremo Karat’s calculations which were bang on; he kept his MPs intact and delivered the Left votes en bloc. The miscalculations were that of the BJP leadership. Shamefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen maker.

Snippets / Mail Today, July 28, 2008

At last, we have 275

WHO WOULD have expected an alumnus of Doon School, St Stephen’s College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge and a parliamentarian of 24 years standing to be among the 50- odd technologically challenged MPs who used a paper slip to cast their vote in the confidence motion? Yet that’s how Mani Shankar Aiyer voted on July 22. And he’s in good company. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, former chief ministers Babulal Marandi, Kalyan Singh and FC Sardinha, Mehbooba Mufti, SS Dhindsa were among the many who took the same route. I have reason to believe the machines didn’t just conk out. The voting record obtained from the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office shows that a majority of the 44 MPs who used the paper vote belonged to the Opposition but when the votes were counted, they were split almost equally, for and against. As for how this happened, my guess is as good as yours. Miracles don’t often happen in politics but this one gave the UPA 275 votes when it commanded the support of less than 260 MPs. If Somnathda were to take his new found independence to its logical end and take action against the erring MPs under the anti- defection law and expel them, the UPA will find itself in a minority.

***********

IT’S nearly a week since the trust vote and in the BJP, it’s time for recriminations. The blame game and the finger pointing isn’t unexpected considering the colossal mismanagement and the pathetic handling by the party managers that led to this embarrassment. After all, the BJP’s USP was the discipline of its cadres. Yet, in the vote where the winner and loser were expected to be separated by a vote or two, the UPA ended up winning by 19 votes, 14 of which came from the BJP and its alliance partners in the NDA. What went wrong is clear to all but the party’s own leaders who are busy shifting the blame. The powerful trinity of Ananth Kumar, Venkiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley which took upon itself the task of ousting the government seemed clueless about what was going on right under their noses and are now shell- shocked. The mine mafia from Bellary provided ample proof that, for them, politics was an extension of business. They were seen openly hobnobbing with YS Rajashekhara Reddy at Andhra Bhavan, a stone’s throw from 11 Ashoka Road where the three hold court every evening. It is perhaps just a coincidence that these first term MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly have a lot of business interests in Andhra Pradesh. It will be foolish to expect the troika that appropriated all the credit for BJP’s win in Karnataka two months ago to shoulder the blame for this disaster which saw three of its MPs from the state switch sides. A few chief ministers, current and former, are also left red- faced. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar handpicked Ram Swaroop Prasad for Nalanda which was his seat. Naveen Patnaik who represented family seat Aska, gave the seat to Harihar Swain when he became chief minister. The TDP’s Audikesavalu won from Chittor, Chandrababu Naidu’s home town. All of them switched their votes. The NDA partners have been quick to expel all defectors. But that’s like bolting the door after the horses have fled.

***********

ONE of the defining attributes of both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh is their ability to grab the chance. Every chance. A week ago, both said they do not want to join the government, but now all signals point to the Samajwadi Party joining the government for the remainder of its term. Mulayam may not join the Cabinet and will most likely nominate a few of his deputies, but I gather that he and Amar Singh will take up posts that are vested with the authority of the central government and also carry the status of a Union Cabinet Minister. It makes their job of gunning for Maya much easier. Not to speak of it getting more enjoyable since as central ministers, they will have to be extended full protocol by the Uttar Pradesh Government on their visits to the state.

The Making of the Prime Minister / India Today, August 4, 2008

The Making of the Prime Minister

Once upon a time in India, there was a prime minister who was a prime-time embodiment of un-freedom. An honourable man and a dutiful servant of the system, he was made the chief administrator by the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager of 10 Janpath, whose power was absolute.

The chosen one owed his luck to the benevolence of the maximum leader, who, in a superbly choreographed melodrama of renunciation in the Central Hall of Parliament, stunned the courtiers with her "no".

In power, he was a man fettered, as the miniature Kremlin in the country's capital exercised its ideological veto whenever he attempted reform in the marketplace.

Then, with his eyes set on history but his feet still on slippery political ground, he entered into a civilian nuclear pact with the other great democracy, the United States of America. Horror, cried the commissar and a Stalinist stench enveloped Indraprastha. Kill the deal or be killed-the ultimatum was given.

And the prime minister, who was the least political at a time when politics for the comrades was pure harlotry, couldn't afford-or didn't have the mandate-to antagonise the tormentor.

He suffered in silence as the rusty anti-imperialism of the Marxists dominated the day. He wanted the deal, somehow, but he didn't have the conviction to stand by something—perhaps the only thing—he hoped would be his legacy. It was as if the meekest had inherited the office. Then one fateful day….

A triumphant prime minister

On July 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as he stood in the House with the poise of a warrior king, it was unlikely that he would have recognised the other prime minister.

More likely, Manmohan Rearmed may not even want to know that non-entity from history. It is not the time to be distracted by the past, and if there is any resemblance between the two, it is accidental-an adjective that Manmohan's biography won't be able to avoid.

At the moment, though, enthralled Manmohanites are struggling to find new adjectives to mythify his heroism. Look around and see the sweep of his triumph, even if you find it hard to discount the moral cost of the operation.

Comrade Prakash Karat, till the other day the omnipotent general secretary who fantasised about having an eternal mandate to rule India by proxy, was elsewhere, plotting a purge in his own party.

The apparatchik lost the day because of his ideological overreach. The prime minister took particular care to separate the "miscalculating" general secretary from friends like Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet to emphasise the "betrayal" by a traditional ally at the Centre.

It was his day of independence from the Marxist zealots who held India to ransom. Manmohan has always had a privileged place in middle class India. On July 22, by the final act of exorcism that brought an end to the Red Evil, he has taken complete copyright of it.

Idolised in the drawing rooms of middle India and celebrated in the marketplace (the Sensex went down by 30 per cent in the run-up to the vote but it was up by 8-10 per cent during the debate), he is no longer the prisoner prime minister, at least for a while in public perception.

And surprisingly, converts and believers alike refuse to see the moral cost of Singh Shining. Shibu Soren? Those wads of currency notes in the well of the House?

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

Ah well, stuff happens in a democracy like India, so you are being asked to suspend your moral revulsion- keep it for another day. Remember, this despite the fact that it was a few unscrupulous individuals but not any party that made him the winner in a nail-biting finale.

More than a winner. The vote finally made him a conviction politician. For a long time, as a victim of Karat's anti-imperialism, it seemed he was seriously suffering from c-deficiency ("c" as in conviction).

All those days, he was prime minister but certainly not the prime mover of Indian politics. There was, of course, the Leader to take the decision, and he-the obedient, the dutiful, the diligent- was happy to be led, and shown the path marked by red flags.

Perhaps he didn't have the freedom to resign. No deal was worth the displeasure of the Leader-or the comrades who sustained the Leadership. Finally he dared-and called Karat's bluff. He had an agenda and he was ready to die for it.

"All I had asked our Left colleagues was: please allow us to go through the negotiating process and I will come to Parliament before operationalising the nuclear agreement. This simple courtesy which is essential for orderly functioning of any government worth the name, particularly with regard to the conduct of foreign policy, they were not willing to grant me. They wanted a veto over every single step of negotiations, which is not acceptable. They wanted me to behave as their bonded slave," he told the House.

Like a politician who was worth his word- and who was fully in the game. It was his first vote of confidence as prime minister, and it legitimised him as a politician who can set the agenda. He so badly needed this legitimacy test. He is the chosen prime minister, not the elected prime minister.

In a way, what happened on Tuesday was the most defining political test of his career. Beware, henceforth, the prime minister of India will be a political being. The prime minister-in-waiting was his obvious target:

"(BJP leader L.K. Advani) has described me as the weakest prime minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our Government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age (this is not Rahul Gandhi speaking but Manmohan who at 75 is only five years junior to his rival), I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India's sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come."

He doesn't stop there. The freshly minted politician has tasted blood and he wants to cut deeper. Advani, in the rhetorical flourish of Manmohan, was the perpetrator of almost everything that was "unforgivable" in the recent history of India.

He was the home minister who "slept when terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament". He inspired the destruction of the Babri Masjid. He found "virtues in Mr Jinnah" but his party and his RSS mentors "disowned" him for that.

"Can our nation approve the conduct of a home minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their general secretary."

Pretty savage, but look at the change of tone when it comes to the Left. Still there are "friends" out there, and they are misled by the general secretary. Manmohan is getting personal, and isn't it news as it comes from the so-called gentleman prime minister?

Mulayam and Amar Singh have sunk their differences and seem to work in perfect unison

Now that he is a full-fledged politician, he seems to realise that it is not all that easy to remain gentle, particularly when you are pitted against a war-scarred veteran like Advani and a ruthless apparatchik like Karat, who spends most of his waking hours in a Stalinist make-believe.

So the suddenly aggressive prime minister, aware of his stardom and growing popularity, has positioned himself as the Congress prime ministerial candidate of E-2009.

Advani, prime minister-in-waiting, is the natural enemy, and politically, a formidable one. The attack on Advani was a calculated one, and more is likely to follow as the battle of two prime ministerial candidates enters a critical phase.

In the run-up to the vote, Politician Manmohan has been at his interactive best. He met with all allies, and spoke individually to most MPs.

He not only succeeded in keeping the allies with him but ensured that no UPA MP defied the whip while NDA and other opposition parties lost 12 MPs to the ruling coalition. (Kuldeep Bishnoi of Haryana was the only rebel but he was anyway a suspended member.) The politician is at full throttle, and that means trouble.

Life as a stage-managed prime minister with no scope for political manoeuvrability must have been quite comfortable, even though occasionally humiliating.

As a political prime minister who refuses to surrender, in the next few months before the general elections, he has a lot to prove-or lose. Now that the South Block is not haunted by the Marxist spectre, the first guru of liberalisation has to deliver (see box).

The expectations are high and Manmohan would like to make the best use of his freedom. Is the freedom unlimited? Don't forget that the big-bang Tuesday was a victory with a price tag. Karat may have gone but the new oxygen suppliers are people like the Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, now the most influential political deal maker in the ruling establishment, and the JMM leader Soren.

The traditional allies will stand by him, but it is the new bunch of friends that could cause problems

There is no unconditional support in politics and Manmohan will be under pressure to return the favours. He may have won the trust vote, but can he ever win the moral war?

And technically, it is still a minority government: of the 19 who saved him, 12 belong to the opposition parties. To please DMK, the Government has already brought Ram to the battleground, much to the electoral delight of the battered BJP.

The Centre, in an affidavit, told the Supreme Court on July 23 that it was Lord Ram who destroyed Ram Sethu in the Palk Strait. When gods are dragged into Indian politics, the victims are always humans, but Manmohan still doesn't have the political autonomy to tell DMK's M. Karunanidhi that simple truth.

Then what about the fate of Force Manmohan within the Congress itself? A true internationalist who strives to ensure India's rightful place in the global power structure.

A moderniser who risks his Government for a politically divisive but nationally enriching nuclear agenda. Like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee before him, he, too, has an idea about India, and now, he has shown the political will to stand by it.

For allies like Sharad Pawar and Amar Singh Brand Manmohan is the obvious Congress candidate for the top job in the next general elections. Really?

The party is not known for projecting anyone as prime minister candidate, unless the candidate has the right bloodline. Will the party let an icon flourish outside the dynasty?

Manmohan may invoke the visionary leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the future hope called Rahul Gandhi, but will the First Family of Indian politics cherish the prospect of a power trinity?

If the prime minister is a Congressman with a historical memory, he should know the answers. And he should be a very realistic man. The ecstasy of July 22 is neutralised by a million such hidden agonies.

Seedhi Baat: Amar Singh, July 27, 2008

BJP is 'Bharat Jalao Party'

Anybody who was opposed to the national interest was defeated during the trust vote. The party which played the dirty game was BJP, says Amar Singh
watch video

Oil’s well with Lalu and the sheikhs/ Mail Today, July 28, 2008

HAVING achieved the impossible in turning the Indian Railways into a profit- making outfit, Lalu Prasad Yadav has raised the bar. He now wants to bring crude prices down. Not international crude prices, which in any case have dipped marginally in the last two weeks, but the price that India pays for the black gold from West Asian countries. His speech during the confidence vote, typically a mixture of the serious and the comical, was more proof that for Lalu, nothing is impossible. Even the Opposition members were seen laughing and cheering him. Search YouTube and you would find that the number of clips and hits of Lalu’s speech grows by the hour, which is perhaps an indication that even Gen- Next is beginning to trust the man who is now on the must- call- on list of visiting students from Harvard and Stanford business schools. With the Railways in the pink of health, Lalu has now shifted attention to the country’s oil requirements and believes that if anyone can help bring down the country’s soaring import bills, it is him. He has been lobbying with the Prime Minister and everyone else that matters that he be sent as a special envoy to the Gulf countries. He is confident that his rustic charm combined with pro- minority credentials will melt the hearts of the filthy rich rulers of the sheikhdoms and make them give special concessions for India’s rapidly burgeoning petroleum imports. Lalu has in the past pulled many rabbits out of his hat and for the sake of the aam aadmi , Manmohan Singh should heed Lalu’s request, waive the ban on foreign tours by ministers and put him on a special plane on this very special mission. It won’t be wasteful expenditure.

Amar Singh:The day of the dealmaker/India Today, July 28, 2008

The day of the DEALMAKER

Power, at its most deceptive level, is an absence. At 27 Lodhi Estate on a Tuesday morning, it is an absence accentuated by the stillness of gilded kitsch and other objects that give an idea about the aesthetics of the resident. He likes his own image, an immaculately suited gentleman leaning against the wall on the arty South Bank, the Thames and the London Eye forming a perfect backdrop. Providing company to this framed piece in the drawing room are sundry gods and exotic warriors in metallic splendour. The man himself is elsewhere, in another room with a colleague, certainly not discussing the weather, and the waiting visitor in the meantime is being attended by a young female receptionist with the ease of an air stewardess. Then there he is, arguably the second most powerful politician in the country at the moment, sending off the visibly tentative colleague with a few reassuring words and a pat on the back before welcoming you to the privacy of the next room. The deception continues. He is a very small man, literally, and everything around him—the deity of Tirupati, the television, the chandelier—is big. It is as if you are with a mercilessly squeezed version of what was once Amar Singh, the proverbial portly Thakur. Ailments may have made him a man withered, but he is the Amar Singh, be assured. The maestro of manipulation who makes the impossible happen. The devious dealmaker who brings the incompatibles together. read more

Interview with Amar Singh/India Today, July 28, 2008

"Mayawati, Modi, Advani more lethal than Bush"

The Samajwadi Party (SP) will contest the forthcoming elections under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, says general secretary Amar Singh.

Q. Why this change of heart—from angry Amar Singh to sweet Amar Singh?

A. There is no political change of heart. We have been constantly wedded to secularism and are firm about our political stance. We wanted to withdraw support but didn’t because we want to keep communalism at bay.
Q. You realised this only recently.

A. In spite of our differences with the Congress, we never withdrew support. I have never abused or attacked anyone, be it political or personal. We have mutually understood that attacking each other without any rhyme or reason will not benefit either of us. There is a convergence of political interest. So we have come together.
Q. In the last UNPA meeting, we saw a united face of the alliance in the morning, but by evening, things had changed.

A. In the meeting, I had endorsed the views expressed by Om Prakash Chautala and said that if need arises, we will meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I also said that Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the right person to make a statement on the nuclear deal issue.
Q. It seems that you are using Dr Kalam’s name for your own convenience. You spoke against the deal on the floor of the House even after Dr Kalam had endorsed the deal in national interest. Isn’t that a volte face?

A. The UPA regime never consulted us, formally or informally. But after M.K. Narayanan approached us, we decided to consult a defence expert. And undoubtedly, Dr Kalam is far more knowledgeable than all of us on this issue.
Q. Earlier, you were misled by Prakash Karat on this issue.

A. I respect him. Their point of view on the Indo-US nuclear deal may be right from their own perspective and ideology. I did support them, but when I met Narayanan, and later our missile man and former president Kalam, we were forced to change our stance.
Q. You were not on talking terms with the Government. Suddenly they get in touch with you and seek support for the deal and you give it. Is this a permanent arrangement?

A. As far as the SP is concerned, we will not do anything to thwart our relations with the Congress leadership, be it at the national level or state level. Whether we will be able to forge an alliance with Congress, we are not too sure. If it happens it is fine, if it doesn’t, still in Rae Bareli and Amethi, we will give unconditional support to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Q. But critics say both of you are afraid of Mayawati.

A. Many people are saying that BJP is petrified of Manmohan Singh. Jaswant Singh approached UNPA leaders and asked them to support the BJP to oust the Congress-led Government. Isn’t this what we should call opportunism? If they do, it is politics. If I do it, I am called opportunistic.

read more

The Magic of Maya / Mail Today, July 21, 2008

The Magic of Maya

Sometime late tomorrow night, or maybe Wednesday morning, we will know how much of a cliffhanger the much awaited confidence motion is. I am not going to make predictions because as the Congress-SP tie-up shows, anything can happen in politics. For much of the last week, several politicians that I know were looking beyond the trust vote to try and catch a glimpse of what the future would look like. Far from clearing the fog, the close vote— and I will stick my neck out on that— is likely to leave them more bewildered. Many seemed to agree that the future is a eight letter word — Mayawati. We have had a woman prime minister before, and now a Sikh prime minister. So is the country ripe to accept a woman, and a Dalit at, that as its prime minister? After her astounding victory in last year’s assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the lady herself has not kept her long-term ambitions secret. The custodians of the working class, the CPI(M) now seem keen to make up for their original historic blunder in not backing a Dalit for prime minister. The year was 1979, the Morarji Desai government was tottering and wise men, then not so old, met and decided not to support Jagjivan Ram for the premiership and ironically enough threw their lot with the Congress. The Jan Sangh component of what was then the Janata Party had sought out the CPI(M) to support Ram, but they emurred. The rest is history. Comrade Prakash Karat’s meeting with Mayawati last week has nothing to do with repenting for that 29-year old mistake. Until recently, the Left had nothing but scorn for her brand of politics. But suddenly Mayawati is the cynosure of all Red eyes and others have been quick to follow. She controls the state that sends every seventh MP to Parliament. In the last assembly elections, the BSP won 206 seats but had leads in 55 parliamentary constituencies. Her revolutionary social engineering made nonsense of political calculations made in the drawing rooms of Lutyens Delhi by psephologists and such like. She is known to drive a hard bargain, she also does what she says. Her style is unorthodox by the standards of politicians: she won’t think twice before sending her own MPs and MLAs to jail.
And with Mulayam set to suffer an erosion of the Muslim vote, even his own Muslim MPs are revolting, Mayawati could be the gainer. Though the BSP’s growth has not been as spectacular as her own rise in UP, it is slowly garnering the votes — 5.33 per cent in 2004. And unlike the Left
which has never grown beyond Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, the BSP is a factor in at least 10 states, including Maharashtra, MP, Rajasthan, Punjab. Its leaders think 70-80 seats should be an easy target. Add to that the TRS, TDP, Chautala et al and the tie-up with the Left and the combine could end up with 150 seats. If that happens, then there is no stopping her from reaching South Block since the Congress will have no option but to support her, if just to keep the BJP out. No wonder there is a line of limousines outside her Humayun Road residence in New Delhi and everyone is talking about the young girl from Kalindi College whose dream was to become an IAS officer.

Somnath: Is it a moral or a personal issue?/Mail Today, Jul 21, 2008

LIKE any other member of Parliament, the Speaker is elected on a political ticket but he/she is different from a mere MP. But not entirely, it would seem. Somnath Chatterjee is among the finest to have occupied the high office. But now towards the fag end of his illustrious career both as a parliamentarian as well as a barrister, Chatterjee finds himself embroiled in a controversy that is entirely of his own making. On the day that it was announced that the government would seek the trust vote, Chatterjee’s office issued a press statement underlining the impartiality and the independence of the office of Speaker. Nobody questions the contents of the statement which were entirely in order. It is the timing that led to rumours of a possible rift between this committed Marxist and his party comrades. Chatterjee may have been livid with his party for including his name in the support withdrawal list given to the president, which made a mockery of the concept of the speaker’s independence. But he tied himself up in knots by later writing to Prakash Karat that he will not vote with the BJP, an argument that is hardly convincing since twice in the past, the last being in 1993, as a CPI(M) MP he had joined the BJP in voting against the Narasimha Rao government. This has led to speculation whether Chatterjee is being guided by the personal relations he shares with Manmohan Singh. Whenever the two meet, the prime minister never tires of reminding the speaker that it was from his father, the late NC Chatterjee, lawyer, parliamentarian and one time Hindu Mahasabha leader, that he received his bachelor’s degree. Chatterjee is too seasoned a politician to be swayed by such trivia, but when you are 79 and nearing the end of a long career, even dyed-in-the-wool Marxists may be tempted to make their own choices.

Snippets / Mail Today, July 21, 2008

Throw out the rascals

TWO weeks back I had written about the new belligerent mood of our men and women in uniform. Last week’s attack on policemen in Malkangiri which left more than 20 killed, coming as it does after the attack on Andhra Pradesh’s greyhound commando force that took 40 lives, is likely to see them become more combative. To add insult to injury was the home secretary’s statement that the attacks “were a result of the tactical blunder by the forces” which has left
senior police officers fuming. The IPS officers association, which met a fortnight ago, will again meet sometime soon and among their demands will be that postal ballots be made available to the 1.4 million armed forces and the nearly twice that many that serve in the central paramilitary and the state police forces. So far, only about two to three per cent of those in uniform have been able to vote in elections because they are mostly on poll duty. Now police chiefs will demand that the government make postal ballots available to men and women
serving even in the remotest corners. “Vote according to your conscience, without fear or favour, is what we are telling our men,” an officer told me. In other words, “throw out the rascals”.

**************

WE Indians have a fetish for renaming. We don’t think twice before junking hundreds of years of history to rename a road, an airport, a city or even a state to satisfy someone or a group that is
politically crucial. So Madras becomes Chennai, Bombay Mumbai, Calcutta Kolkata, Bangalore
Bengaluru and Trivandrum becomes the tonguetwisting Thiruvananthapuram. At least until now, I assume some thought went into such decisions but today, even that fig leaf is finally off. Last week, the Centre decided to rename Lucknow’s Amausi airport, named after the village in
which it is located, as the Chaudhury Charan Singh Airport. The demands for its renaming had
been piling up for long. In 2002, Charan Singh’s only son, Ajit Singh had written to the NDA government reminding them it would be a befitting gesture considering that it was the birth centenary year of the late prime minister. Three years later, Mulayam Singh Yadav wrote to Praful Patel making the same demand. In 2006, Akhilesh Das, then junior minister for industry in the UPA government, wrote to Patel demanding that Amausi be renamed after Rajiv Gandhi since the former prime minister who started his political journey from Lucknow was also an ex-Indian Airlines pilot. It brought the stock reply from the minister: the matter was under consideration of the government and a decision would soon be taken. But all the files were tucked away in some forgotten cabinet and it wasn’t until last week that the government acted and when it finally did, Rajiv Gandhi had to yield to Chaudhury Charan Singh. If the circumstances
were different, I would have admired Sonia Gandhi for showing amazing grace and not adding to
the list of roads, chowks, avenues, institutions that already sport her husband’s name. But it’s the urgency to woo the three MPs of Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal that made the difference. A novel way of horse trading.

*************

“ Let the lobbies be cleared”. After scores of our honourable MPs have exhausted their vocal chords over two days of the trust vote, starting today, the Speaker will, just before the motion is put to vote, ask the marshals to clear the House of all but those elected to the Lok Sabha, who are eligible to take part in the voting process. As prime minister, Manmohan Singh occupies Seat No 1 in the treasury benches. But having never sought election to the Lok Sabha, he is not the Leader of the house. Pranab Mukherjee is. Singh will speak on the motion at the end, after which it will be put to vote. Will he leave the house before the vote is taken, or will he resume his seat on the front row without enjoying the privilege of casting his vote? A tragedy
either way.

Ask Prabhu: Indiatoday.com, July 22, 2008

On the Vote of Trust in Parliament

Question & Answers..........
Q: What will the Congress achieve if it wins the trust vote in Parliament?
A: It will be able to save the personal prestige of the Prime Minister who had signed the civilian nuclear deal with President Bush. -Asked by Satish, sarawagi@gmail.com
Q: Who will form the next government in case the UPA government falls now?
A: No one in this Parliament because both the leading formations, like the NDA and the UPA, will not support any other political party to form a government.-Asked by Prasad. nasmac12@yahoo.com
Q: What do you think about a great economist-turned Prime Minister begging for votes?
A: I pity him. He has a good reputation and a good cause to fight for. Unfortunately, he has mistimed his adventurism by depending on those who are behind bars for being a threat to national security. Now, they have become the safety net for his government. -Asked by Narasimhan , reniyengar@yahoo.co.uk
Q: The PM is also involved in horse trading to save his government and has bought Shibu Soren. Will he still be considered as "Mr Clean PM"?
A: I won't call it horse trading as Shibu Soren is a part of the UPA. But I would definitely call it a political deal-making. If Soren is fit to be a minister now, then why was he kept out for so many months? It was because Mr Clean Prime Minister thought Soren was not clean. -Asked by Ramesh, rameshmaya2007@rediffmail.com
Q: Legally, can a minority government take the N-deal forward? If so, can't the UPA seek an honourable exit instead of imposing the current political farce on the nation?
A: Once the government has lost the majority, it is not expected to take decisions which may bind the country for eternity. I think Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has followed the correct route to seek the endorsement of Parliament. -Asked by Ramesh, rna69@rediffmail.com
Q: Can't the UPA proceed with the N-deal without the trust vote? Will its conduct be above board if it wins the trust vote? Can it continue with the deal if it does not win the trust vote?
A: The Prime Minister has done the right thing by going to Parliament which he should have done a year ago and saved his reputation. Now, if he wins the vote of confidence, people will suspect the conduct of his government in securing a majority in the House. If they lose the confidence vote, the government will not proceed with the deal as promised by the Prime Minister himself. -Asked by Dwarak, rdwarakanathan@hotmail.com
Q: Will the BJP support Mayawati's candidature for the PM's post in case the Congress loses the trust vote in Parliament?
A: If they do, what will happen to their prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani? They have announced that they will not be supporting Mayawati. -Asked by Rajeev, sharmar_1968@yahoo.com
Q: Sibhu Soren is reported to be making unreasonable demands on the Congress for voting in its favour. What would Mahatma Gandhi have done had he been alive?
A: In fact, Mahatma Gandhi wanted to wind up the Congress and he would have done precisely that. We should not blame Shibu Soren for asking ministerial berths and other concessions, don't you agree? Ab sabka dil maange more! -Asked by R.D. Nathan, rdwarakanathan@hotmail.com
Q: Politicians are wasting their precious time to bring down a government and setting a wrong example of governance for the new generation. Can't the President call a meeting of these MPs and tell them to behave, or if necessary, impose President's rule to discipline them till forthcoming elections?

A: Our Constitution doesn't give any right to the President to call MPs and tell them to behave. And there is no provision for President's rule in India. -Asked by Rajendra
rdkhimesra@gmail.com

Seedhi Baat with Amar Singh/Aajtak, July 13, 2008

Amar Singh has said that the UPA government will comfortably sail through the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha on July 22. "I won't reveal to you my strategy for saving the government, but I'm confident that we will get support of more than 290 MPs on the floor of the house", the Samajwadi Party General Secretary, told me in an interview for Aaj Tak. (Watch Video)

Singh, who was instrumental in making the leaderships of the Congress and the Samajwadi party bury and hatchet and form an alliance that could prove to be the lifeline for the UPA govermnment expressed the hope that the new tie-up would continue beyind the next Lok sabha elections. When asked whether his party would have an alliance with Congress in UP for next general election, Singh said, "We want to have pre-poll alliance with Congress in UP and won't field candidates against Congress at Raebarelly and Amethi. ." The constituencies are currently being represented in the Lok sabha by Sonia and rahul gandhi. But asked to choose between Manmohan singh, Sonia and Rahul gandhi for prime minister, he indicated the SP was quite content with the leadership of manmohan Singh. "We will cont elections under leadership of Manmohan singh who remains our candidate for prime ministershiop". he brushed aside sufggestions that he will take mup a cabinet portfolio after the government wins the trust vote.

Asked about reports that he was trying to work out a compromise between the fueding Ambani brothers and whether he had sought the prime minister's intervention in the matter, Singh, who is known to be close to the younger brother Anil, said he "was too small a fry" to intervene in such a matter. But he said it was in the national interest that the brothers forget the bitterness of the recent past and work together. "The cumulative wealth of Mukesh and anil combined is about five percent of the country's GDP and as such any fight between two such persons can only harm the country. I feel it is in the nation's interest if bitter fued is brought to an early end", he said.

Bugging for Bharat/Power & Politics/Mail Today, July 14, 2008

FEW things are more engrossing than a good spy story. And if you go by what’s happening in Lutyens’ Delhi and many state capitals these days, where political bedfellows change faster than bedsheets, you’d realise life indeed is imitating fiction. In the midst of the fast moving political developments last week, Icalled up apolitician friend whose support is very crucial to the survival of the UPA government. He was reluctant to talk on the phone and invited me over to his house. When Ireached there acouple of hours later, almost apologetically, he walked me out to the expansive lawns. He admitted that he had no evidence, yet he feared that his phones were being tapped and his house was bugged. Can you believe that? No evidence, just a suspicion, which I suppose is symbolic of the climate of fear that pervades public life in the era of the politiciancorporate- criminal nexus. With the confidence motion coming up and the government’s survival virtually atouchand- go affair, politicians on both sides have taken to hiring sleuths to find out exactly what the other side is up to. Once upon atime, such surveillance used to be the prerogative of official agencies like the Intelligence Bureau but in these liberalised days, anybody and everybody worth his pencam is getting into the act. Why, even the IB is known to outsource minor tasks like wiretapping to private agencies. The Vajpayee government’s fall in 1999 after aone vote defeat has drilled into the netas the importance of each vote. In the much awaited close contest, it’s the one and two MP parties that are being particularly targeted. Afriend in the IB recently mentioned to me about something called “contact dotting” which Iinitially mistook for the new hot social networking site. Actually, it’s something very scary. Here, if you are the target of snoopers, they may not necessarily monitor your cellphone but will definitely keep a watch on those very close to you. Like your faithful driver of twenty years because his phone is likely to give them an idea of your whereabouts and whom you met. Young techies are being paid handsomely to hack e- mails of opponents. Of course, spies would be no different than you and me without their sophisticated gadgets. Importers of electronic intelligence and surveillance equipment, once limited to Delhi, have now fanned out to states like Andhra, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana where the political transfer windows are open round the year. Sales are growing and so are their bank balances. But the more things change, the more they remain the same. Twenty one years ago, long before 200 million Indians embraced cell phones, Iremember doing acover story in India Today about the differences between the then president Giani Zail Singh and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that almost brought down the Rajiv Government. There was no satellite television then and it was the closest one could get to what is now called breaking news. The story created aflutter and shortly afterwards, Gianiji called me over to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. He took me by the hand and escorted me to the beautiful Mughal Gardens. When Iasked him why we were sitting out in the open on ahot summer day, he said, “Puttar, main Rashtrapati hoon, lekin eh deewaron mere nahin. Kahan kahan button hai, mujhe patta nahin (Son, Iam the president but these walls don’t belong to me. I don’t know where all the bugs are).” Information, specially on your opponent, is power. Politicians be warned.

Snippets/ Power & Politics, Mail Today, July 14,2008

THIS Super Six was brought to you by the Department of Land reforms”. You may not have heard it as yet on the sports channels but the day may not be far off. The recently concluded Asia Cup in Pakistan saw the advent of anew sponsor, the funds at whose disposal could make many an MNC turn green with envy. Land Reforms is astate subject and mystery surrounds the carving of anew department under the Centre’s ministry of rural reconstruction. Worse, rules and guidelines are yet to get Parliamentary sanction and no one would have known of its existence but for the scrolls that ran across the bottom of the TV set every time aball was sent across the ropes at the Asia Cup. What next? Brylcreem haired, Gillette shaven Mahi Dhoni assuring farmers “your land is safe and will not be taken by SEZ’s, MNCs. Thanks to the Department of Land Reforms”.

Now for the third round

NOW here is something that could make opponents of the Women’s Reservation Bill seethe with rage. With Parliament set for an eyeball- to- eyeball confrontation between the UPA and the informal alliance of the NDA and the Left, it’s two women who are chalking out plans and marshaling resources for two sides. Formidable as she is, UPA’s Sonia will meet amatch in Sushma Swaraj of the BJP who has unofficially been made the “chief spotter’ for the NDA. The two have met in the past. In Bellary in Karnataka Sushma put up agritty fight before going down in aLok Sabha election. And four years ago, Sushma had promised to shave her head and sit on dharna outside Parliament if the Italy- born Sonia was made the Prime Minister. The score is now one- all and Sushma is leaving nothing to chance in the impending third test. Her house in Safdarjang Lane has become the hub of NDA activity. It is here that top leaders huddle most days to chalk out strategy to woo the very people —the smaller parties and the independent MPs —that the UPA also has set its eyes on. Sonia and Sushma are tough, yet charming women and it’s apity one of them has to lose.

THERE is aSupreme Court ruling that bars ministers from using government money for self- promotion or their ministries but many have found anovel way to get around this minor problem. Ministers are now hiring ad agencies not just to buy time on satellite TV channels but even produce chat shows where they take on the role of anchors, talk about the things the ministry has done and then take questions from the audience, just as TV anchors do. Earlier, ministers appeared in similar programmes on Doodarshan, but the problem was that nobody watched the channel and the few that did never believed anything the government owned channel said. Ministers are now seeking to bridge the credibility gap by opting for private TV channels, the first to do so being the Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who anchored ashow last week. Others are set to follow. The Doon- Sanawar- Mayo- Scindia alumni in the council of ministers are expected to opt for the English language channels, the huge contingent from Bihar will naturally go for the Hindi version while the MDMK- PMK types will take to the Tamil channels. The DMK of course has been at it for long, owning as it does more than afew Tamil channels. This in turn has spawned anew type of business enterprise. Every minister’s bhatija now wants to open aTV production house, at best or at worst, an ad agency. But that’s another story. Ididn’t see Mani’s programme but Iheard he was great. Should he be left jobless after the next elections, he should turn an anchor. Politics’ loss may well turn out to be TV journalism’s gain.

As the song goes, salute the mother/Power&Politics, Mail Today, July 14, 2008

NEXT week, we will know if the Government lives to fight another day, but already the Congress seems to be in acelebratory mood, particularly the younger lot which is showing an aggression unseen in along time. The Old Guard is wary knowing that the most elaborate survival plans can be punctured by one MP on the floor of the house. But amidst the celebrations, there is also debate raging within the party: who was the catalyst? Was it Manmohan Singh, who made the deal aprestige issue? Or Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, who between them made the many deals to get the numbers to save the nuclear deal? While the PM must be given his due, it's Sonia and son who walk away with the honours. With one stroke, she has accomplished several tasks. Unlike 2004, when the UPA was cobbled together post election, anew pre- poll alliance is already in place and aonce formidable foe in UP is now an ally. She has shown the Left the door with apolite thank you note and now knows she can dictate the agenda because her new allies are as business friendly as her front- ranking ministers. And when elections come, she can approach both the khaas aadmi and aam admi with areport card that could make up for the four lost years of supping with the Left. To achieve this, Sonia and Rahul did what was unthinkable even afew months ago. For the last few weeks, she has overworked the phone lines at 10 Janpath, even getting in touch with people she wouldn’t otherwise be seen dead with. Ditto for Rahul who let bygones be bygones and will now campaign in Uttar Pradesh in the company of Mulayam. The young man of course couldn’t have done all this without Sonia’s guiding hand. No wonder, in the Congress, they are all singing Maa Tujhe Salaam!!

Nuclear Deal:Securing the FUTURE/India Today, July 21,2008

By tying up with the Samajwadi Party, Sonia Gandhi is looking beyond the Nuke deal to safeguard her political future which depends on how important a role she will get to play after the next elections.

While presenting his first Union budget in 1991, Manmohan Singh, then finance minister, said, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.” Last week, the prime minister, perhaps among the least combative to have occupied the high office, decided that it was time he lived up to Victor Hugo’s words and did something that would once and for all put an end to the frequent taunts of being “the weakest prime minister India has ever had”. While in Japan to attend the G-8 Summit, he announced that India would be going to the International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea) to seek its approval for the civil nuclear agreement with the US. In doing so, he displayed a resolve that he has seldom shown in the past. After all, it was only during the last session of Parliament that, faced with the stiff opposition even from upa allies, the Government had almost shelved the deal. The opposition parties took it as further proof of the lameness of the governing duck. Now, there is a spring in upa’s step as reflected in the alliance’s readiness to seek a confidence vote on an issue which is likely to get submerged in a year of double-digit inflation and internal security disasters. Less than a month ago, the deal was considered as good as dead and the Gole Market commissars were gloating “we told you so”. Why then this sudden confrontationist mood in upa whose reputation for succumbing to pressure from allies even makes the word “coalition” look unholy? The reality is that upa’s decision to flex its muscles did not come overnight. For the last few months, it has been clear as morning light that the Congress was looking for an excuse to get rid of the heavy baggage that is the Left, a party which it has to confront in two big states in a few months. For the upa Government, the Left’s utility value had run out. For the past few months, Manmohan may have been obsessed with the N-deal, but Sonia Gandhi was looking at life beyond the summer of 2009. So far, she kept the Left in good humour. But on an issue that’s hugely important for the Government, she turned in a performance of great maturity. She taunted them and made them withdraw support.But not before ensuring that there is life after the Left. For her, the nuclear deal was a camouflage to safeguard her own political future, knowing that her relevance in national politics will depend on how important a role she will be able to play in the 15th Lok Sabha. She was canny enough to let Manmohan start a N-deal duel with the Left way back in 2006, but by setting up the Left-upa coordination committee, she sought to convey the impression that, on the N-deal, she and the prime minister were not on the same wavelength. That unlike him, she was keen that the ties flourish. The Left trusted her honourable instincts, oblivious of the fact that she was seeking out potential partners for a tie-up that would go beyond merely rescuing the upa Government in the event of pullout by the Left. She kept herself abreast of all details about deadlines for India to approach both iaea and Nuclear Suppliers Group (nsg), using her independent sources in the foreign office and elsewhere even as the prime minister was pushing for an immediate showdown with the Left. The fact that Ronen Sen, India’s Ambassador to the US and a close friend of the Gandhi family, was asked to continue beyond his tenure is perhaps proof of the hawk’s eye she kept on the N-deal related developments. At home, the turning point was Mayawati’s rise in Uttar Pradesh last year. Sonia initially tried to cosy up to the Bahujan Samaj Party (bsp) chief who spurned her advances. That was Mayawati’s way of conveying to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi that she had added them to the list of those she intended to pursue. The list till then consisted of the names of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh. The Samajwadi Party (sp) leaders, until then also hounded by the upa Government and the Gandhi family, were looking for the right opportunity to make up. The story then took a sad twist, which leaders of the two parties hope will have a happy ending. Upon Amar Singh’s father’s death, condolence letters went out to him from Manmohan, Sonia and Rahul. Those were followed up with phone calls which continued even when Amar Singh underwent prolonged treatment in a US hospital. Other gestures followed, like the Z-class security that was suddenly put in place for the sp leader. And when the upa Government celebrated its fourth anniversary in office in May, Amar Singh was invited to the dinner that the prime minister hosted. Such small gestures matter a lot to Amar Singh and you could sense that a new relationship was blossoming. With the Government no more dependent on the Left, it is a win-win situation for Sonia and Manmohan. By getting sp on board, they have virtually dismantled the United National Progressive Alliance (unpa)—the Third Front in its latest avatar—which was talking in terms of staking claim for the post of prime minister on the strength of a hundred seats or thereabouts. Even diehard optimists within the Left don’t believe they will come anywhere near the 14th Lok Sabha tally of 61. And with Congressmen conceding the likelihood of losses in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Assam, it’s Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh that offer hope for the party. But none so much as the last, with its 80 seats where currently the Congress is a fringe player. But in association with sp, it could prove a formidable combine. Don’t be surprised then, if, as the date of the trust vote approaches, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi takes a break and passes on the job of floor coordination to Amar Singh. The UPA Government may just sail through.

INTERVIEW with ASIF ALI ZARDARI/India Today, July 21, 2008

“I DON’T REMOTE CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT”

It’s not often that a Pakistan politician sits down for an interview and refrains from what is a favourite topic—India-bashing. Asif Ali Zardari is the exception. The 52-year-old co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (ppp) spent much of a 90-minute interview (watch interview) with me for Aaj Tak tv channel talking about completing Benazir Bhutto’s unfinished task and the need for strengthening Indo-Pak relationship. Excerpts:

Q. How much has your life changed after Bibi’s untimely death?

A. Not just my life has changed, but that of Pakistan and also of the world has changed. As long as she was around, I had no worries. She was there to take care of everything.

Q. You were in jail for almost 11 years. You both were fighting, Bibi from outside and you from behind the bars.

A. Yes, we were together in our fight. Even today, I feel she is very much around, in spirit.

Q. In my last interview with her, Bibi told me, “I know that my life is under threat but I’m going to Pakistan just for the sake of democracy. My biggest task will be to end military rule”. She sacrificed her life to restore democracy in the country. But even six months after her death, military rule is not yet over.

A. Her sacrifice will not go waste. We are working towards restoring democracy. Military rule is there but it is not Pervez Musharraf who is holding any such post.

Q. People of Pakistan elected both the pml-n and the ppp with this hope. Both of you were for his removal. So why is it taking so much of time?

A. Unlike India, we never had a coalition government. This is the first-time for us. Both the parties have almost equal number of seats. Even if we combine together, we will still fall short of the required number to oust him. We don’t even have the support of other parties.

Q. Have you set any time frame for Musharraf’s ouster?

A. Politicians seldom stick to deadlines. But we will pack him off soon.

Q. You are the working president of the party though your son Bilawal is the chairman. Why so when you could have done it yourself?

A. We have chosen Bilawal because he is our future, he is our present. Our new slogan: Bhutto ki tasveer Benazir, Benazir ki tasveer Bilawal (Benazir is Bhutto’s image and Bilawal is Benazir’s). Bilawal is our future. I am just a trustee of Benazir’s legacy.

Q. People say you are Pakistan’s Sonia Gandhi. Like she controls the Government from 10, Janpath in Delhi you do the same from Bilawal House in Karachi.

A. No, I don’t try and control the Government from Bilawal House as most of the time I am in Islamabad. "Soniaji is a great leader and I am trying to learn the nuances of democracy from her, no doubt. She is my role model." And if I had to control the Government, I could have very well become the prime minister. I had the option of taking up the post but I chose to manage the party instead. It is a greater responsibility.

Q. In last 100 days, you haven’t done anything substantial to speed-up probe in Bibi’s assassination.

A. Here in Pakistan, I see a larger conspiracy behind her assassination. I just don’t want to find out who killed her, but my sole motive is to let the world know what her death could lead to. It could lead to Balkanisation of Pakistan which would mean Balkanisation of the entire region.

Q. It was believed that Bibi was a staunch supporter of the US. And she was eliminated entirely for this reason. She was a target of the fundamentalists, so do you think you are also influenced by America?

A. We have sought the support of all political parties to restore democracy in the country. America, Britain and India, all are democratic forces. Bibi went to all such countries and her visits acted like a catalyst which in turn was of great help in the longer run. She ruled even though she stayed away from the country.

Q. Is ppp soft on the US, like Nawaz Sharif pointed out a few days ago? Do you agree that the US is interfering a lot in your domestic matters?

A. America is an ally. Taliban was a problem and will be a problem. We have to fight them out and we are trying our best to oust them. We may have to talk it out or have to fight with the fundamentalist forces. We might have to motivate them and bring them into our fold.

Q. Why don’t you forget Kashmir for a while? Why should India and Pakistan fight over it?

A. We can’t forget Kashmir. Like you, we also want an amicable solution to this problem. We want to talk out this issue. We want trade. Think of it, both India and Pakistan together can become superpower.

Q. For confidence building measures, India feels that Pakistan should dismantle its terror camps in Kashmir and stop interfering in its domestic matters. Will your government do so?

A. Neither we interfere in anyone’s matters nor we like others to interfere in ours’. We are against terrorism.

Q. Sharif said that visa should be abolished. Will you support him?

A. If he brings this Bill in Parliament, we have enough majority to promulgate it.

Q. To improve trade, why don’t you give any preferential treatment to India?

A. We are willing to give preferential treatment and want the same in return. We want India to play the role of an elder brother in the subcontinent. Pakistan can very well become a catalyst for India’s progress. If India and Pakistan unite, we will undoubtedly become a force to reckon with.Now, five rapid-fire questions:

Q. Who is your friend, Sharif or Musharraf?

A. Nawaz Sharif.

Q. Who do you hold responsible for Kargil fiasco?

A. It is history’s ex-factor and I hold both of them responsible for it.

Q. Will you ever be able to arrest Bibi’s assassins?

A. Bibi, in her book, had written that her death would become the catalyst for change. We will certainly get hold of them, but we want to change the nizam (system) of Pakistan.

Q. Would you like to become the prime minister of Pakistan?

A. I will not say that I will never become one, but surely will try not to.

Q. Will you join hands with China to procure weapons or befriend India to become an instrument in Pakistan’s progress?

A. I would like Pakistan to progress for which I would not mind being friends with both India and China.

Let’s elect our Guvs/Mail Today, July07,2008

We love to make tall claims about being the world’s largest democracy but when you look at those men and women who live in the Raj Bhavans around the country, we realise how far we are from being areal democracy. The unelected office of Governor is the most misused and abused one in the country. There have been governors who have brought infamy to their offices. Last week, one more joined that disgraceful list. NN Vohra was in office for less than a week when, in an attempt to bail out the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government which had been reduced to a minority after the withdrawal of coalition partner PDP, he revoked the decision of his immediate predecessor, Lt Gen SK Sinha to allot land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. AGovernor is bound by the advice of his council of ministers and Sinha's decision had been cleared by the Cabinet. No such constitutional niceties for Vohra. He was faced with adouble whammy: The militants were making the predictable noises and aCongressled government in peril. So, he unilaterally decided to withdraw the offer his predecessor made. You wouldn’t expect aseasoned bureaucrat, who has been Union Home and Defence Secretary to be so shortsighted. But he was and missed his target by miles. He wanted to douse Muslim anger but has ended up pitting community against community. This is the kind of response one expected from boorish governors like Buta Singh. Vohra was thought to be cut in the mould of governors like SK Singh, SS Sidhu, and TV Rajeshwar or ND Tewari, RL Bhatia or SS Barnala. The first three, like him, are retired civil servants while the rest are experienced politicians. Not the kind that acts first and thinks later. In fact, as abureaucrat, Vohra was known to think so much that he often forgot to act. An exemplar of such dithering is the Vohra Committee Report that looked into the alleged nexus between criminals and politicians and found nothing more substantive than the fact that there was a nexus. As if that was astate secret. No wonder the report was not fit to be made public. This is not to suggest that Lt Gen Sinha was the epitome of gubernatorial propriety. His political leanings were no secret, dictated in part perhaps by his supercession for Army Chief by the Indira Gandhi government in 1983. But as governor, he must have been doing something right. What else explains the fact that though he was posted in Srinagar in 2003, by the then NDA government, the UPA continued with him till the end of his tenure afortnight ago. In this instance, he did what is expected of any good administrator: To give better sanita- tion facilities to the lakhs of pilgrims. So he got the land transferred. Then followed ugly scenes of PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti holding Sinha responsible for the riots and the latter responding by calling her party anti- national, not to forget that Yasin Malik got yet another chance to fast unto death. Enter Vohra. Government saved, but the two communities are divided like never before. Ideally, governors have no place in aset- up like ours. If they are amust, let them get elected.