Column

Meanwhile in Delhi

Nothing remains a secret for long in this city of mirrors. The Capital is abounding with whispers that the members of the dirty tricks department that’s digging up dirt about Pratibha Patil are also part of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s campaign committee. The connection would never have been made but for blabbering journalists and an MP whose tongue ran away with him. For months now, political circles have known that among Shekhawat’s core group of strategists are a former journalist with a Mumbai connection (better known for his role in sinking Advani with the Jinnah row) and some Rajya Sabha MPs associated with the NDA. Now it turns out that some of these people were behind the smear
campaign against Patil.

The names were revealed inadvertently. The former journo, Sudheendra Kulkarni, was the person who produced Rajani Patil at Akali Dal MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s residence to tell her tale to a select group of correspondents. Kulkarni was supposed to remain unidentified but when word spread that a handful of journos were privy to a ‘scoop’, his name slipped out during the dogfight that occurred as desperate correspondents scrambled to get the story of the day.

The other name that became public was that of RS MP Tarlochan Singh. He fell victim to Dhindsa’s streams of consciousness in front of television cameras in which the Akali MP confessed that Singh had asked him to lend his residence for Rajani Patil’s meet with the press. Dhindsa was somewhere in Himachal Pradesh when the controversy broke. Horrified by the ugly turn to the presidential election, senior Akali leaders ordered Dhindsa to disassociate himself from the controversy. He obeyed immediately but ended up saying much more than necessary by implicating Tarlochan Singh.

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L’affaire Patil is proving to be most embarrassing for the opposition and perhaps for Shekhawat too. The presidential poll has turned messy with a level of muckraking never seen before in an election for the highest post in the land. Shrewd political warhorses in the opposition camp realise that these tactics may boomerang.

The presidential election was supposed to create a platform for the NDA and the Third Front parties to come together in a show of strength, which would have been the launching pad for an anti-Congress alliance for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Instead it’s the ruling combine that’s shown muscle and unity.

The biggest blow for the NDA and Third Front must be the manner in which Sharad Pawar has come out strongly in favour of Patil. He was supposed to be their secret weapon in the ruling camp. He’s turned out to be the latter’s biggest ally, particularly after his name was inadvertently dragged into the smear campaign. This round very clearly belongs to Sonia Gandhi. She’s succeeded in getting a strong vote of confidence from her allies, whatever their reservations about the credentials of her chosen nominee.

Tailpiece

Even before Pratibha Patil has been elected, the Capital’s grapevine is buzzing about the composition of her secretariat in Rashtrapati Bhavan. They say 10 Janpath’s most favoured bureaucrat, Pullok Chatterjee, is headed to the stately building as her secretary. Meanwhile, babus of the Maharashtra and Rajasthan cadres with a Patil connection are lining up for a posting to Rashtrapati Bhavan. It comes with a fixed five-year tenure, a huge colonial bungalow in the President’s Estate and other perks.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net