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The Rediff Special/ Virendra Kapoor

The Congress leadership is worried by the three Bs -- Bus, Bihar and the Budget

The financial integrity of Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and other senior ministers remains beyond reproach. This government has not fathered the bank-stock scam a la Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh which had left the State exchequer poorer by over Rs 100 billion. Nor has it allowed moneybags to buy official favours.

Vajpayee's squeaky-clean image has survived despite the belated attempts by Mohan Guruswamy, the sacked advisor to the finance minister, to fling some mud at the prime minister's foster son-in-law in the fond belief that some of it will stick.

Now Guruswamy's own skeletons are rattling out of the cupboard. The man keeps such terrible company that only liaison men and fixers would feel at ease with him. That the Congress has latched on to his every word as if it were the gospel truth only helps to underline its desperation.

Guruswamy's confused writing reveal nothing of substance. Unwittingly, he himself concedes that much in black and white. For, not once but twice he says in his post-dismissal articles that he is not "levelling any corruption charges" against Yashwant Sinha or anyone else in the government. Pray, then, what is there to debate?

Why, then, demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee? Inquiry into what? The corruption charges which Guruswamy confesses in black and white he does not make? Come on, mealy-mouthed Manmohan Singh, think up something better to throw mud at the government.

Doubtless, Guruswamy is being too clever by half for his own good. For want of solid evidence, he tries to pass off general criticism as a chargesheet against the BJP government. For instance, he cities the fact that the Vajpayee government had torpedoed the Tata-Singapore Airlines proposal for a new domestic airline. I, for one, would have liked the proposal to be cleared, at least by the Vajpayee government.

I suspect the same entrenched interests which had blocked the clearance initially when the Rao-Manmohan duo was in command of the nation's economy had in all probability stalled it this time too. Weren't both the Deve Gowda and I K Gujral governments guilty of putting the same proposal on the back burner?

The point is that the entire political class cutting across party lines joined hands to stymie the Tatas's renewed effort to enter the aviation sector.

Admittedly, given the government's fragile majority, it wouldn't have been advisable for it to ruffle too many feathers by choosing to do that which at least three previous administrations had consciously decided not to do. But that brings us to the most valid criticism of the Vajpayee government's one year in office. Which is that it failed to convince people that it was a 'government with a difference.' It was more of the same.

Minus the sleaze of the previous administrations, the Vajpayee government continued to provide the same listless fare which had put off the people these past 50 years and which, in turn, had persuaded them to give the BJP 'one chance to rule India.' The BJP had all along boasted that it was a 'party with a difference.' Within a year in power, it revealed itself to be a 'party with differences.'

That Vajpayee and Advani had differences of perceptions was understandable. But why should there be a wall of mutual suspicion and distrust between the two tallest leaders of the Sangh Parivar is a cause of concern. And that in my view was the single most important factor affecting the performance and the government's image.

As the government enters the second year, a very concerned Congress is sharpening its knives -- witness the tamasha it is creating over the post-dismissal piffle by Admiral Bhagwat and Guruswamy. The party is out to pull down the BJP to its own level of muck and sleaze. Hence, the attempt to stall parliamentary proceedings a la the Bofors scam on the mere ravings and gratings of the sacked former admiral and former advisor to the finance ministry.

The Congress leadership is also worried by the three 'Bs' -- Bus, Bihar and the Budget. Another worry is the lacklustre performance of Auntie Shiela in Delhi, Diggy Raja in Bhopal and Gehlot in Jaipur in their first 100 days in office. So it must destabilise the Vajpayee government before the Sonia factor wears off. The challenge for Vajpayee is to build upon the good work his administration has done in recent months despite all the hassles it has had to face from quarters within and without.

The Rediff Specials

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