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Vajpayee may attend Mahajan show

Suhasini Haidar in New Delhi

Will Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, or won't he go to the party? That seemed to be the question in a lot of minds in the Prime Minister's Office and the Bharatiya Janata Party circles yesterday.

The party in question is, of course, the first anniversary celebrations of the BJP government, called the Satyameva Jayate concert, which is being organised by the information and broadcasting ministry.

The prime minister, who was earlier inclined not to attend a function which may be seen as 'wasteful expenditure', may have changed his mind yesterday following a representation from Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan.

Whether the prime minister does in fact attend the Satyameva Jayate concert or not, it is clear that battlelines have been drawn over this seemingly simple issue.

On the one side is Pramod Mahajan; he is supposed to be extremely close to the PM and his family.

The concert is his show from start to finish, and he intends to leave no stone unturned in making it a grand success. Apart from a theatrical skit on the theme of 'peace and violence', the ministry will showcase 'the achievements of the BJP government in the past one year', including the Pokhran tests, a scheme of credit cards for farmers, and the bus to Lahore.

A member of the organising committee has put the estimated cost of the entire evening at a conservative 'Rs 20 million'. Considering the security for such a function, the grand scale of the sets, and the spectacular fireworks show, the actual cost to the exchequer is likely to be more than double that.

On the other side are the loyal soldiers of the PMO, namely the PM's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, his Private Secretary Shakti Sinha, and others who constitute the so-called 'most powerful PMO ever'.

They are reluctant to allow the prime minister to attend the function, which they see as a potential embarrassment to him. To begin with, they feel the prime minister should not attend any party that incurs high costs and is in the public eye.

Also, many irate local residents have taken the matter to court, trying to have the venue of the celebration changed. This implies the danger that the courts may pass strictures against the government on the issue, which would reflect badly on the PM, if he chose to attend.

There is, of course, also the possibility of a 'security threat' to the prime minister in any public venue such as this. Officially, at least, that is the reason the PMO can give.

So, while the PMO had categorically told the media on Monday that the PM would not attend the function due to 'security reasons', the I &B minister held a media briefing on Tuesday in which he countered that claim.

At the briefing, Mahajan stated unequivocally that the prime minister had confirmed his intention to attend the party on Friday.

"There is a lot of confusion between the PMO and the I and B minister," said an official of the PMO yesterday on the tussle, "And only the PM really knows if he will be going or not."

Late yesterday evening, however, invitation cards that said the prime minister would be attending the party were distributed by the information and broadcasting ministry, indicating that the tussle may be over, with Mahajan emerging as the victor.

"After all, security ka kya hai (why should you worry about security?)," said BJP MP Vijay Goel, a close confidant of Mahajan, and an organiser of the party, "If security arrangements are not adequate for the PM, we will make them so. How can you stop the PM for a reason like that?"

Meanwhile, work on the gigantic sets at the Hauz Khas monument, the venue for the celebrations, continued in full swing today. Yesterday a Delhi high court bench heard a petition by 'The Morning Walkers Association of South Delhi', urging that the monument, which stands in a popular Delhi park, be 'protected' from the BJP's proposed bash.

The Delhi high court, while refusing to stay the construction of the set, said it would deliver its judgment this afternoon. While no other major hiccups are expected, the organisers are now awaiting that decision.

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