HVK Archives: Editorial TOI: "Red in the Face"
Editorial TOI: "Red in the Face" - The Times of India
Editorial
()
4 October 1996
Title : Red in the Face
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Times of India
Date : October 4, 1996
Mr Indrajit Gupta is apparently not the tiniest bit upset about the
midnight missive the government sneaked across to the CBI counsel on the
eve of Mr Narasimha Rao's scheduled court appearance in the Lakhubhai
Pathak cheat- ing case. No matter that he, as home minister, wasn't privy
to the move. No matter also that counsel Gopal Subramaniam has since
withdrawn from the brief in dis- gust. But then, hasn't Mr Gupta done the
expected thing? Indeed, flying into high dudgeon only to recant the next
minute is fast becoming trademark behaviour with Mr Gupta and the Left
parties. A mere day ago, we were informed differently. The home
minister, CPI sources had in- sisted, was furious at the gross impropriety
of the government interceding on behalf of the former Prime Minister. Mr
Gupta's comrades,in-arms in the CPM, too, went into the by-now-familiar
routine of threatening the government with withdrawal of support. In the
end, however, all was predictably well. The CPM was suitably mollified
while Mr Gupta allowed himself to be persuaded, and only too easily, that
there really was no reason to fret. That Mr Gupta and the Left parties
performed this backflip with the consummate skill of practised veterans
hardly needs to be stated. After all, there was much that they had
protested against since the UF government came about - the petrol price
hike, Congress dominance, excess VIP security, the appointment of Mr
Romesh Bhan- dari, cabinet rank for former Prime Ministers, and so on.
And each time the drill was the same - a good deal of shrill protests
followed by a good deal of inaction.
All this is a bit unfortunate. The Left had entered the United Front not
to throw temper tantrums, but to fulfil the key role of conscience-keeper.
Such, indeed, was Mr Gupta's reputation for brutal honesty that few in the
Front wanted him as home minister. To be fair, in the beginning, Mr Gupta
was every bit what he promised. He put Congressmen in their place,
stripped sundry VIPs of their valued security cover and candidly admitted
to a degree of coercion in voting in the Kashmir valley. But, since then,
he has simply been unable to match word and action. We do not know why Mr
Gupta feels compelled to retract each time he ventures an unpopular
opinion; it could be that official decorum is weighing on his mind. For
the home minister's sake, we hope that his on-again, off-again statements
have nothing to do with the spoils of office. That will prove him to be
no different from the others, perhaps only more disingenuous. Over the
past month, Mr Gupta has watched his decisions being reversed and his
opinion repeatedly bypassed. Prime Minister Deve Gowda restored NSG cover
to Mr Sajjan Kumar and Mr H.K.L. Bhagat within hours of Mr Gupta deciding
that they could do without them. The home minister didn't even know that
one of his officials had signed the government order according cabinet
status to Mr Narasimha Rao. But his worst moment todate must surely have
been when he willy-nilly became party to applying Article 356 - an
instrument the Left is sworn to abolish - in Gujar- at. It is time Mr
Gupta decided whether or nor he can stand the heat of the kitchen. And
the Left had better ask itself if it isn't protesting too much.
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