HVK Archives: The night of the long knives
The night of the long knives - Rediff on Net
Varsha Bhosle
()
16 April 1997.
Title: The night of the long knives
Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: April 16, 1997.
The hangover persists. While the sane commentators will have moved on
to more momentous happenings, Bhosle is stuck on the April 11 debate
fiasco. =13Fiasco=14 because there was no debate as such: The UF abused =
the
Congress and BJP; the Congress maligned the UF and BJP; the
Independents jabbed at the Congress, UF and BJP; and the BJP smirked
and rubbed its collective hands in glee. Too bad you guys didn=12t get =
to
watch =16 it turned out to be an unforgettable 12-hour gore-fest.
Confession time: In the perpetual quest for an alternative to the old
guard, every once in a while, your friendly optimist is visited by
divine revelations. Sometimes they stand true, and sometimes she lies
flat on my face, groping around for her bloodied teeth. Like the time I
took one look at Rajeev Gandhi at his mother=12s funeral pyre and decided
he was the one (no need to tell you how that went). Like the day I saw
a picture of Rajesh Pilot with his Air Force wings and began feeling
trhs benevolent towards him (hadn=12t realised that a vazir needs
qualities different from a pawn=12s). Like when I was had by Sharad =13Th=
e
Maratha Strongman=14 Pawar=12s propaganda machine (=13The Maratha
Milquetoast=14 is more like it).
Well, this time around, and thanks to the aforesaid debate, it is the
turn of BJP=12s Pramod Mahajan. And you know what? I=12m rather willing =
to
stake my dubious reputation on this piece of art. I had heard that he
is so ruthless a strategist that the holy Sangh parivar, especially its
leadership, doesn=12t quite approve of him. At the same time, for him to
have been appointed the union defence minister during BJP=12s 13-day
stint, they must have no doubt about his loyalty to the party and his
right-wing inflexibility. And Thackeray-bashers, you won=12t be surprised
to learn that it is Mr Mahajan who=12s responsible for the BJP-Sena
alliance =16 and its continuation. Yummy=05 garam masala, tikhat ani
mirchi. Saatvik bhojan never did suit me.
But to return to my oracle: All said, I still had had no idea he could
be this effective. I suppose the peculiarity of the post-debate reports
can be put down to the loftier (leftier?) ideals and perceptions of our
secularist press lords=05 but I still don=12t get it: Why was Mr Mahajan=12=
s
pointed speech pointedly ignored by India=12s national dailies =16 when =
it
was the one which brought the house down, and when it was all that the
normal viewer could rave about? (The operative word here is =13normal=14.=
)
Agreed, the old communists, Somnath Chatterjee and Indrajit Gupta, were
good. But then the communists always are good when it comes to
non-China-threatening principles. It=12s when practical sense is required
that they come a cropper. Forgetting that it was the Congress (and not
the Hindutvawadis) which had rocked the UF boat =16 and also since he had
been given no solid reasons to parry on the floor =16 Mr Chatterjee
launched on a scratching of his favourite post. And along with the
usual communal-divisive-fundamentalist-forces bullshit, he fused the
unfusable: =13Sitaram Vajpayee=14, thereby equating a bungling bandar wit=
h
the nation=12s finest Parliamentarian. A cheaper shot was not made that
day. And that, Mr Mahajan utilised fully.
What fascinated me most about Mr Mahajan=12s speech was that the entire
thing was a reply to what had been said earlier on in the day. His
opening joust was on the ambiguity of the situation: he stressed that,
till then, not one speaker had clarified his opposition/support of the
motion (it=12s true, none had). He slew Inder Kumar Gujral=12s inscrutabl=
e
motives with just one query: =13Is this a debate on the progress of the
External Affairs ministry?=14 He highlighted Sharadrao=12s now-glaring
oddity: =13The UF-Congress talks didn=12t make a headway since they
couldn=12t cross the line of control at Farooq Abdullah=12s home. And at
Sharad Pawar=12s house, they couldn=12t not sit on the fence.=14 FOTCL
(falling off the chair, laughing)! Believe me, the camera showed M/s
Pilot and Pawar helplessly doing precisely that.
However, the most telling comment on the present state of governmental
affairs came from Mr Mahajan=12s anecdotal barb at the Maharashtra
Gomantak Party=12s lone electee, Ramakant Khalap: =13When asked to explai=
n
the Indian concept of democracy, I told our Chinese hosts, I=12m from the
single largest party =16 and I form the Opposition. You see Mr Pawar
there? He=12s from the second-largest party =16 and he=12s outside the
government. That CPI man there, he=12s from the third-largest party =16 =
and
he=12s inside the government but from the outside. But this gentleman,
he=12s the only person from his party =16 and he IS the government.=14 =
Well,
even Mr Khalap collapsed.
But most significantly, Mr Mahajan drove home the fact that the BJP was
under no moral obligation to pass a budget it did not agree with: =13Did
you show largesse for the BJP when its government in Gujarat was
dismissed under Article 356? Did you show kindness after Atalji had
defended himself on the confidence motion moved by the BJP to save its
national government? How can you even ask support from the BJP when you
had arrogantly announced that you would last the full term? To save the
budget is the responsibility of the UF and its supporters =16 it is not
the BJP=12s onus.=14 (Since I had publicly opined that the BJP must suppo=
rt
Prime Minister Deve Gowda, or at least abstain, this argument was
particularly humbling.)
No, it could not have been a planned delivery or a written text. But
just in case it was, either this chap is a genius, or the governmental
sheep are so predictable that they better be led to the slaughter
quick-time. The ability that Mr Mahajan seems to be gifted with =16 to
think standing on one=12s feet =16 I revere. And as for the measured
pauses, the drama, the deadpans, the sneers, the sidelong glances=05 I
have decided. When I grow up, I will marry this man.
The Prime Minister, on the other hand, was in first-class Mark Antony
mode. To be perfectly honest, I didn=12t think he had it in him. One
thought he would fall asleep while appearing to be meditating, and
certainly not come out with lines to the effect of =13and yet they say =
I
am incompetent, and the reckoning will be bitter, I promise you=05=14 For
no matter what Mr Gowda actually said, all I could hear was: Did this
in Caesar seem ambitious? / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff, /
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honourable man =05
At least in my drawing room, there wasn=12t a dry eye.
Naturally, there have been reams of columns and editorials castigating
Mr Gowda for being peevish and lowering the dignity of the
prime-ministerial chair. I beg to differ. There is no rule, no ethic,
no moral which says that one must go down without a fight (honestly,
our intelligentsia rather insists that everybody should drop =12em and
bend over for a caning). Fact is, the confidence-motion was a battle,
and the session turned out to be the night of the long knives.
Certainly, my own favourite stab was when Mr Gowda pulled out Sitaram
Kesri=12s letter to the President, and oh-so-innocently faltered: =13What
is this word, nikam... nikamma?=14 Splendid stuff! He did what should
have been done long ago =16 thrust the knife deep into the bugger=12s gut
and twist it excruciatingly slowly. What a tremendous performance. This
is probably what they mean by silent waters etc.
Between Mr Mahajan and Mr Gowda, the notable speeches were given by
CPI-M=12s Indrajit Gupta, BJP=12s Uma Bharati and, of course, always, Ata=
l
Behari Vajpayee (=13par tees taareekh mein aisi kya vishesh baat thi?=14)=
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