Govt. red in the face over Hindujas-Mishra episode

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, MAY 8. The Vajpayee administration found itself plainly embarrassed over the revelation that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's Principal Secretary, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, was accompanied by two of the controversial Hinduja brothers when he called on the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, in June 1998. The embarrassment becomes decidedly acute in view of the fact that the Hinduja brothers are among the accused in the Bofors pay-off scandal and are currently involved in a legal wrangle.

There was no attempt to deny the story. The BJP officially refused to respond and suggested that comments, if any, would have to come from the Ministry of External Affairs. On its part, the Foreign Office spokesman said that ``the Hindujas offered to facilitate some meetings and the offer was naturally accepted in the national cause. It may be noted that chargesheets had not been issued against the Hindujas at that time.'' He also suggested that the kind of ``facilitation'' that the Hindujas provided was happening ``on a regular basis''.

Even the Congress was surprisingly unaggressive in its comments. The AICC spokesman, Mr. Jaipal Reddy, wanted to know the full facts before commenting and demanded that the Government ``come clean''. On the other hand, the CPI(M) called the Mishra- Hindujas visit ``a serious breach of security and elementary Government procedures''.

In a statement, the party's politburo asserted that ``the whole sinister episode cannot be brushed aside. First, Mr. Brajesh Mishra must be immediately removed from the posts of Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser. This is absolutely essential to restore public confidence.''

While Government sources concede that the entire episode brings no credit, they offer a credible explanation why this faux pas took place. The key, according to sources in the Prime Minister's Office, is the context of May/June 1998. A new government had defied conventional wisdom and staged Pokhran II, inviting international condemnation. Having joined the nuclear club, the Government felt constrained to mend its fences with an offended international community, especially the P-5 nations.

There was no full-time Minister for External Affairs, and obviously the Prime Minister, who was in charge of the foreign affairs portfolio, could not do all the travelling. The burden fell on Mr. Mishra to lobby key international leaders.

But, it was not all that easy for the new Government to access key international players. The High Commission in London was headed by Mr. Salman Haider, a distinguished diplomat but who found himself out of sync with the foreign policy priorities of the new Government. The new Government itself obviously did not have sufficient confidence in him to help build bridges with the Blair Government. That is when the Hindujas stepped in.

Having secured an appointment with Mr. Blair for Mr. Vajpayee's Principal Secretary, the two Hinduja brothers sprang a surprise and stayed on; and a sufficiently grateful Principal Secretary found himself, according to the sources, unable to ask the brothers to step outside. However, the sources insist, that the brothers were not privy to the contents of the Prime Minister's sealed letter for Mr. Blair; and, in any case, there was nothing secret about the explanations that Mr. Mishra gave for India's decision to stage Pokhran II as these arguments had already been publicly made.

These explanations apart, the real interest remains focussed on who could have leaked the story to the media in London. One school of thought is inclined to think that the Hinduja brothers themselves could have inspired the story. The brothers are reported to be miffed that they have been grounded here despite a ``friendly'' Government in the saddle and perhaps the Mishra- Blair story was meant as a reminder to the Vajpayee Government that it was not living up to its part of the bargain.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : New Governors for Sikkim, Mizoram
Next     : Electing Jayalalitha as CM ethically improper: BJP