Sonia vs. Vajpayee: an unequal contest

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25. It was unequal contest between Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee and Ms. Sonia Gandhi, one a veteran of the game and other a first-term member with only just a little over six months of parliamentary career. Predictably, the outcome was rather one-sided, with Mr. Vajpayee being the clear winner even though he did not make a great speech; he has certainly delivered better speeches in the past. The contest could even be described as unfair but for the fact that it was sought entirely by the Congress(I) parliamentary managers, who were insistent that Ms. Gandhi speak immediately preceding the Prime Minister.

Yet, both the treasury and the Opposition benches were aware that the spotlight was on Ms. Gandhi. She also knew she was in the spotlight. For the Congressmen, of course, it was a major occasion; silent cheer-leaders like Mrs. Moshina Kidwai, Mr. Vasant Sathe, Mrs. Ambika Soni and Mrs. Rajendra Kumari Bhattal had positioned themselves in the gallery opposite the Congress benches as if their presence would infuse confidence in Ms. Gandhi in her own debating potential.

Even the ministerial benches were crowded; Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi with the familiar smirk, Mr. L. K. Advani had a look of seriousness, and the Prime Minister himself wore a benign smile when Ms. Gandhi was invited by a heckler to speak in Hindi; Mr. Vaiko encouraged her to proceed in English. Mr. Jaswant Singh was attentive and could be observed gently nudging his neighbour, Mr. Mursoli Maran when Ms. Gandhi charged the Government with ``secretly'' signing away India's trade interests; and, Mr. Singh was positively alert and even took off his reading glasses when the Leader of the Opposition bemoaned India's Foreign Minister escorting freed terrorists back to Kandahar.

The Congress(I) benches applauded their leader a few times, and would have done less perfunctorily had they been given a convincing reason. Unfortunately, Ms. Gandhi could not keep out the carping tone.

And it was easy for the Prime Minister, master of the parliamentary game, to show the Congress(I) criticism to be an essay in nitpicking. But Mr. Vajpayee himself was not going to be kind and gentle in the game of parliamentary oneupmanship; for example, much to the delight of the treasury benches, he challenged Ms. Gandhi to clear here and now the confusion over her party's position on ``minimum nuclear deterrence.'' Ms. Gandhi's response was an all-too-visible uncomfortable silence.

Mr. Vajpayee could and did take the high road and talked of international respect, of contrast between democratic traditions in India and authoritarian temptations in Pakistan; he contrasted his own recollection of his ``responsible'' role as the Leader of the Opposition with that of the Congress(I). His witty retorts left the Congress(I) benches virtually speechless; a couple of times Ms. Gandhi animatedly summoned this or that colleague, urging that they join the argument with Mr. Vajpayee.

The treasury benches were naturally delighted with the Prime Minister's performance; the BJP Ministers, in particular, had the happy supercilious look that Pakistani players have when Shoaib Akhtar wades through the Indian batsmen. Mr. Advani could even be seen gleefully dry-rubbing his hands.

And it was left to Mr. Prakash Ambedkar of the Republican Party, to force Mr. Vajpayee on the backfoot on the question of Constitutional review. An undaunted Mr. Ambedkar punctured Mr. Vajpayee's rhetorical flow, and made the Prime Minister look pedestrian and partisan. The Prime Minister had to be prompted by Mr. Arun Jaitely and Mr. Advani as Mr. Ambedkar refused to be cowed down. And as is his wont, Mr. Pramod Mahajan had to intervene and introduce a cantankerous note, inviting protests from the Opposition benches. Indeed, Mr. Vajpayee ended on an ordinary note.

At the end of the debate, it was not clear why the Congress(I) parliamentarian tacticians insisted that Ms. Gandhi say her piece just before Mr. Vajpayee; she could not even have the advantage of having the last word. Unless, of course, the dynasty fundamentalism enjoined that she persist in `prime ministerial' pretensions.

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