Column

Meanwhile in Delhi

If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received a lesson in realpolitik this week, so did Leader of Opposition LK Advani. There was a near revolt in the BJP over his suo muto attempt to do a course correction of his party's opposition to the nuclear deal. None other than old foe Murli Manohar Joshi sounded the battle cry.

When reports appeared that the RSS had congratulated Advani on his new stand, Joshi, who has a good equation with the Sangh, immediately telephoned RSS deputy leader Mohan Bhagwat for a clarification. Bhagwat washed his hands off the whole affair. He probably didn't want to get caught in the crossfire. On Joshi's insistence, he agreed to get the Sangh spokesman to set the record straight. Next, the BJP's nuclear warriors met and according to the party's grapevine, it was a stormy affair.

With Jaswant Singh and Arun Shourie leading the charge, they pointed out that the BJP's opposition to the nuclear deal was crafted after long meetings at Vajpayee's house, which were also attended by Advani. They insisted that Advani do another course correction and even drafted his clarification statement for him. The next day, the PM had company when he blinked under Left pressure. Advani too blinked, but under his own party's pressure.

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While Pranab Mukherjee and Sitaram Yechury burnt the candle at both ends (and fried their nerves in the process) to resolve the crisis created by their respective bosses, the man in the eye of the storm, Manmohan Singh, was apparently unruffled. An aide claimed that he had not seen the PM so relaxed in his three years in office. Singh barely touched his files.

Instead, he spent long hours reading editorials, commentaries and articles in domestic and foreign newspapers, presumably on the storm raging over the nuclear deal. His aide's explanation for his good humour was the widespread public support for the nuclear deal with all kinds of votaries emerging from the closet to speak out. The PMO was particularly overjoyed by Ratan Tata's fulsome praise in a television interview. The PM seems to have missed the telecast but he was presented with a full transcript to read.

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While nuclear fireworks exploded all around, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan suddenly strayed from the national debate to speak of retirement. Political circles were quite puzzled by this uncharacteristically personal statement from Bardhan. It wasn't difficult to spot the reason. A new general secretary is due to be elected at the CPI party congress in March 2008.

Although Bardhan is arguably the party's tallest leader today, he has already done three terms as general secretary against two terms allowed by the CPI's constitution. His successor has been identified, Sudhakar Reddy, a Lok Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh. Clearly, Bardhan is preparing for retirement from now.

TAILPIECE
Defence Minister AK Antony is terribly uncomfortable with the sartorial changes he's had to make as a union minister. He prefers to wear his traditional mundu but with an upcoming trip to Moscow in October, his wardrobe has become a topic of lengthy discussion among his aides.

A mundu just will not do in the cold temperatures of the Russian capital. But his recent experience with a three-piece suit wasn't a happy one. He made the mistake of wearing it to Gwalior on a hot August day. Halfway through an inspection of a Mirage plane, he had to take it off. Ah well, these are the perils of the job!

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net