The bjp, with its strong line-up of rabble-rousers, one had imagined, would be different. Far from it. Its spokesmen are alternately shrill, supercilious and stentorian if not downright arrogant; you could peel off Pramod Mahajan's grin like a sticker; and L.K. Advani comes across like a police training school teacher. But the big let-down is Atal Behari. With poetry that half the country doesn't understand and the other half doesn't care, the prime minister is a pathetic drone. It's probably old age, but is this the same wizard of words of yore? The writer Mukul Kesavan takes the "kahwa" for his description of ABV on TV: "His eyes flicker off and on like that of a modem during dial-up. There's a sputter of activity when the connection is being established. And like with the modem, it's not his data he is relaying."
Here's a thought: shouldn't Mr Vajpayee address the US Congress in Hindi during his visit next month like he did the UN as external affairs minister 22 years ago?
