HVK Archives: Red in the face
Red in the face - The Times of India
Editorial
()
4 October 1996
Title : Red in the Face
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Times of India
Date : October 4, 1996
Mr Indrajit Gupta is apparently not the tiniest bit upset
about the midnight missive the government sneaked across
to the CBI counsel on the eve of Mr Narasimha Rao's
scheduled court appearance in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheat-
ing case. No matter that he, as home minister, wasn't
privy to the move. No matter also that counsel Gopal
Subramaniam has since withdrawn from the brief in dis-
gust. But then, hasn't Mr Gupta done the expected thing?
Indeed, flying into high dudgeon only to recant the next
minute is fast becoming trademark behaviour with Mr Gupta
and the Left parties. A mere day ago, we were informed
differently. The home minister, CPI sources had in-
sisted, was furious at the gross impropriety of the
government interceding on behalf of the former Prime
Minister. Mr Gupta's comrades,in-arms in the CPM, too,
went into the by-now-familiar routine of threatening the
government with withdrawal of support. In the end,
however, all was predictably well. The CPM was suitably
mollified while Mr Gupta allowed himself to be persuaded,
and only too easily, that there really was no reason to
fret. That Mr Gupta and the Left parties performed this
backflip with the consummate skill of practised veterans
hardly needs to be stated. After all, there was much
that they had protested against since the UF government
came about - the petrol price hike, Congress dominance,
excess VIP security, the appointment of Mr Romesh Bhan-
dari, cabinet rank for former Prime Ministers, and so on.
And each time the drill was the same - a good deal of
shrill protests followed by a good deal of inaction.
All this is a bit unfortunate. The Left had entered the
United Front not to throw temper tantrums, but to fulfil
the key role of conscience-keeper. Such, indeed, was Mr
Gupta's reputation for brutal honesty that few in the
Front wanted him as home minister. To be fair, in the
beginning, Mr Gupta was every bit what he promised. He
put Congressmen in their place, stripped sundry VIPs of
their valued security cover and candidly admitted to a
degree of coercion in voting in the Kashmir valley. But,
since then, he has simply been unable to match word and
action. We do not know why Mr Gupta feels compelled to
retract each time he ventures an unpopular opinion; it
could be that official decorum is weighing on his mind.
For the home minister's sake, we hope that his on-again,
off-again statements have nothing to do with the spoils
of office. That will prove him to be no different from
the others, perhaps only more disingenuous. Over the
past month, Mr Gupta has watched his decisions being
reversed and his opinion repeatedly bypassed. Prime
Minister Deve Gowda restored NSG cover to Mr Sajjan Kumar
and Mr H.K.L. Bhagat within hours of Mr Gupta deciding
that they could do without them. The home minister
didn't even know that one of his officials had signed the
government order according cabinet status to Mr Narasimha
Rao. But his worst moment todate must surely have been
when he willy-nilly became party to applying Article 356
- an instrument the Left is sworn to abolish - in Gujar-
at. It is time Mr Gupta decided whether or nor he can
stand the heat of the kitchen. And the Left had better
ask itself if it isn't protesting too much.
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