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Pranab Mukherjee and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya must have heaved a collective sigh of relief when exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen finally boarded the plane to Europe last week. No-one ruffled their bhadralok feathers quite as easily as this controversial author who delights in lighting fires wherever she goes. Bhattacharya cleverly passed on his headache to New Delhi after a round of rioting in Kolkata made Nasreen too hot for him to handle. Mukherjee, on the other hand, is nursing his bruises after close encounters of the emotional kind. Obviously, there are different perspectives to the same story. Nasreen’s rebellious spirit chaffed at being locked up in a ‘safe house’.

The government felt it was doing her a great favour by keeping her out of the line of fundamentalist fire. Over the months, their clashes assumed comic proportions. She wanted her cat brought from Kolkata to New Delhi but government guesthouses have a ‘no pets’ policy. She demanded that her friend from Sweden be allowed to stay with her.

The government’s prudish sentiments vetoed the request. French president Nicholas Sarkozy insisted on decorating her with his country’s top national honour during his brief visit to India. The government blew a fuse. Do it in Dhaka, Paris or Stockholm, not in New Delhi, the French were told. Ultimately, Mukherjee decided that he had to intervene personally. He met Nasreen to suggest that she slip out of the country quietly till the temperature cools. He gave her his word as foreign minister that he would ensure a safe passage back after a few months. To his horror, the news and contents of their meeting were splashed all over the media. In the end, Nasreen proved more malleable than Prakash Karat on the nuclear deal. She gave in and flew to Europe. And she may not be allowed back in till the general elections are over so that she doesn’t become a poll issue. But Mukherjee’s nuclear headache won’t go away so easily.

Leave it to Lalu Yadav to lighten the government’s nuclear burden. At the last meeting of the UPA-Left panel, the discussions traveled down the familiar technical road with Mukherjee and Chidambaram holding forth on the nitty-gritties and Left leaders raising the usual objections. Lalu sat quietly, bored by the Kabuki ritual that goes on at each meeting. Finally, when it became obvious that there was nothing more to discuss, Lalu decided to liven the proceedings by playing court jester.

No “kapda-phad Holi’’ this year, he announced dramatically. He said he would stick to traditional revelry and colours instead of the rowdy celebrations for which he is known. The discussion immediately turned to Holi and became more animated. When the panel parted, they were all smiling, ready to put on a show for the media waiting outside. So, who’s serious about the nuclear deal? It’s slowly becoming apparent that no-one really expects it to go through.

TAILPIECE
Is the Congress taking a cue from a suggestion Advani lobbed at Rahul Gandhi when they bumped into each other at an airport VIP lounge some months ago? Advani told the Gandhi scion that politicians should be competitors, not rivals. In other words, observe the usual courtesies away from the poll battlefield. Recently, when Amar Singh lost his father, Rahul telephoned him to commiserate. When TDP leader Yerran Naidu’s daughter got married, a host of Congress leaders and ministers, especially those with an Andhra connection, attended the reception he hosted in the capital.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net