M A I N   N E W S

Govt asks for Rajan’s provisional arrest
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 12 — Putting to rest speculations about the extradition to India of Chhota Rajan, New Delhi has formally asked Bangkok to keep the underworld don “under provisional arrest” as all requisite papers along with legal documents for his eventual extradition are under process.

While Rajan’s passport, issued by the Regional Passport Office, Chennai, is being revoked, a diplomatic demarche has been made to the Thai authorities concerned that a formal request for the extradition is being prepared and shall be forwarded to the Government of Thailand shortly. Meanwhile, a Ministry of Home Affairs press note said today that the Maharashtra police had sent the remaining requisite papers. “These papers have been received only today and are being examined”, it said.

A spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said in the aftermath of the shooting incident involving Chhota Rajan, also known as Rajendra Sadashiva Nikhalji alias Vijay Kadam, the ministry was taking the necessary action in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the coordinating agency in the case.

“Our Embassy in Thailand has already taken action for revoking Chhota Rajan’s passport issued on the basis of false personal particulars and the Thai authorities have been informed of this”, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Thai authorities have been requested to keep Rajan under provisional arrest, pending the extradition or deportation, whichever is feasible under Thai law and regulations.

Vajpayee does tight-rope walk
Completes one year in office
From T.R.Ramachandran
 Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 12—The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has succeeded in completing a year in office and keeping his fragile and largest coalition government from coming apart despite the inherent contradictions in the existing arrangement.

Displaying exemplary equanimity in the face of tremendous odds, Mr Vajpayee has emerged relatively unscathed from the baptism of fire, as it were, after two short but botched-up stints as the country’s chief executive.

It is not as if Mr Vajpayee’s problems from his alliance partners like the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena or to some extent the DMK are over. Some of these partners of the National Democratic Alliance government have their own agendas which compels the Prime Minister to constantly undertake a delicate balancing act.

The Prime Minister is acutely conscious of the inherent pitfalls of coalition politics. The NDA is comfortably afloat, thanks in large measure to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chandra Babu Naidu, extending the support of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to the Vajpayee government from outside.

The wily Mr Naidu is surely extracting his pound of flesh from the Centre by constantly harping on the fact that the TDP has a solid block of 28 seats in the Lok Sabha. As a quid pro quo, the NDA has given the Speakership of the Lower House of Parliament to the TDP.

Mr Vajpayee’s biggest critics are in the Sangh Parivar with the RSS in particular playing the role of an unforgiving opposition, a task in which the Congress has failed miserably. The RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have torn the Vajpayee government apart on the economic policies and taken exception to it virtually giving up Hindutva and Swadeshi.

Discriminating leaders in the BJP and the Opposition acknowledge that it is the national image of Mr Vajpayee of being a liberal that has kept the disparate 24-party grouping together. “He has managed the constant tight- rope walk rather creditably so far in keeping political parties with diverse ideologies together,” these leaders said.

After two rapid fire failures, Mr Vajpayee quickly stitched together the National Agenda for Governance, offloading the three critical issues close to the BJP’s heart. The issue of constructing a Ram mandir in Ayodhya, having a uniform civil code and abrogation of Article 370 according special status to Jammu and Kashmir may have taken a back seat vis-a-vis Mr Vajpayee’s BJP.

It is apparent that Mr Vajpayee is calling the shots in the BJP,undeterred to some extent by the Sangh Parivar’s cacophony. It will be naive to assume that he has isolated himself from the RSS. He understands the plural mosaic that is India and if it was not for him, a Dalit in Bangaru Laxman might not have become the president of the BJP. He wants to woo the minorities, especially the Muslims, without whose support the BJP will always be precariously perched in the numbers game.

The RSS and the VHP are upping their ante and have constantly created pinpricks and embarrassed the Prime Minister. The RSS chief, Mr K.Sudarshan, told a rally in Nagpur recently that Christians should free themselves from the clutches of foreign churches and set up Swadeshi churches.

Simultaneously, Mr Sudarshan urged Muslims to Indianise Islam.

The BJP stalwarts in the government find Mr Sudarshan’s high-pitched utterances rather disconcerting as they have the portends of fanning communal passions. They are assiduously refraining from offering comments. Their brief response is, “Please direct your questions to leaders of those organisations who are making these statements. And it is not always that media reports are accurate and right.”

Another telling aspect in Mr Vajpayee’s favour is that the opposition parties have not really tested the resilience of the NDA government in the year that has just gone by. The Opposition is embittered but does not have the vital arithmetic to create any dent or pose a serious threat to the Vajpayee government. The fractious Congress with its lowest-ever tally of 112- odd seats in the Lok Sabha is battling for its own survival.

BJP leaders firmly believe that the Congress is a force to reckon with. Their trump card in their opinion lies in Mrs Sonia Gandhi holding sway over the Congress organisation.

The Union Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo,Ms Mamata Banerjee, has threatened to quit the Vajpayee government if the steep hike in the prices of petroleum products are not rolled back. The NDA government is expected to fall in line with Ms Banerjee’s demand, as evidenced by the mellowing down of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister,Mr Ram Naik. Falling in line after the initial belligerence, Mr Naik has said that the Prime Minister will find an appropriate way to roll back the prices.

The BJP desperately needs to keep its partners like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK in good humour because of the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu in the first half of next year. Assembly elections are also due in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh as well as Kerala and Assam.

There is no doubt that the trappings of power have proved to be a cementing factor for the NDA. And the astute septuagenarian that he is, Mr Vajpayee wants to keep all the partners in good humour even though he has been compelled by circumstances to take one step forward and two steps backward.