Fruit Of War

While the Opposition is understandably wary of going into an election with Vajpayee wearing the commander's cap, the debate once campaigning commences will be incredibly dirty and brutal, making the pre-May Sonia-is-the-Pope's-mole-in-Delhi issue look like a genteel tea party at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Words and phrases such as patriot, traitor, true son of the motherland, Paki-agent, national disgrace and security risk will be bandied about recklessly and generously. But I have the feeling that the electorate will not be fooled by sleek PR, or newly-recruited corporate spin doctors, or freshly-educated media-savvy MPs. They would have made up their mind on whether this has been a good war for Mr Vajpayee or for Ms Sonia Gandhi. For the present, the suspense is Hitchcockian. Since the man on the Karol Bagh bus is at once silent and sullen on the politics of the war, it is impossible to tell which way he will tilt.