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Governance so far has been an 'unpleasant experience', says Hegde

Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde has said he was not fully satisfied with the performance of the Vajpayee government, which completes two months on May 19, and called it "a period of unpleasantness.''

Hegde made this evaluation to a private television channel, and is the first member of the Vajpayee Cabinet to air his views on the government's performance.

The minister sought to explain his rating by saying that this government was "an arranged marriage and not a love marriage".

Asked if Vajpayee was being unassertive as prime minister, Hegde said he should have "asserted himself when unreasonable demands were made. Many people say perhaps he committed a mistake.''

The Lok Shakti leader, however, declined to give any instances of what he considered unreasonable demands. "I cannot attribute this to any particular incident or action. It is perhaps the cumulative effect,'' was all he was willing to say.

Hegde's advice to the PM was to be "firm and tough'', and if necessary to reshuffle his Cabinet after the Budget session of Parliament.

"He has to be firm and has to be tough if necessary in the interest of keeping his coalition intact. He has to perhaps choose his colleagues carefully and if necessary reshuffle his Cabinet, perhaps after the Budget session.

"By that time he will know whose aptitude is what, so he can move the right people for the right job,'' Hegde added.

Asked if he thought that Vajpayee was weak, Hegde said he did not think so. "He looks physically weak, but I don't think mentally he is weak. Mostly it is physical fatigue which makes him look rather weak.''

"Anybody in his place under the same pressure, under the same stress, would have been broken, completely broken. I don't think he has any respite for himself,'' Hegde said.

"May be he is slightly disappointed, he must have expected, as any one in his place would, that this coalition, which was elected to provide a different kind of government, would work more or less smoothly. But it is not working because several elements have taken a certain stand.''

About Law Minister M Thambidurai's statement that the cases against All India Anna DMK general secretary Jayalalitha were political, Hegde said, "If I were in his position I would not have made that statement.''

Terming as "unnecessary,'' Defence Minister George Fernandes's statement that China was "India's potential threat number one'' and that Chinese military and naval activity have encircled the country, Hegde said, "We should not say anything unnecessarily which would strain our relationship particularly with China.'' The commerce minister described Fernandes a "highly emotional'' person.

Expressing himself to be in conformity with Home Minister L K Advani's proposed Constitutional review, Hegde said the move was in India's interest. "I do believe in this, there is no doubt about it. I am going to organise a seminar in Bangalore on the subject, next month,'' Hegde told the interviewer.

He said the review was one of the items on the national agenda, and that he had himself been advocating the move for a long time.

The Presidential system, Hegde said, "will integrate the country much more".

Striking a note different from that of the BJP's ally, the Shiv Sena, Hegde said the ban on Pakistani artistes and sportsmen by the Sena in Maharashtra, as well as the attack on artist M F Husain's house by Bajrang Dal activists, was "totally wrong". "I condemn it with all my might, this is absolute nonsense. It is against our own culture,'' Hegde fumed.

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