I share theBJP 's misgivings on Pratibha Patil as far as the stature question goes. Messrs Advani and Swaraj would have been well advised to concentrate their firepower on this aspect of her candidacy. Such a campaign, I believe, might have yielded better results and not made theBJP look so completely foolish. After all, what has the ferocious pro-Shekhawat onslaught produced? TheBJP has succeeded in creating a new entity called the UNPA, which seems determined to pursue an independent path till 2009. More: theNDA itself is split right down the middle and last week we had the extraordinary spectacle ofBJP leaders marching to the Election Commission protesting about their former allies' "betrayal" while dubbing their decision to abstain from voting as "unconstitutional". Has there been a better case of shooting oneself in the foot?
Now, I appreciate that in any democracy it is the job of the Opposition to embarrass the government and score what are quaintly called "brownie points". But if in that process you split your own coalition, you also say bye-bye to victory in 2009.
My purpose, meanwhile, in investigating Shekhawat's history was to redress the balance. Outlook never tried to hide the charges against Ms Patil. We examined them carefully and found they were made up of half-truths and unsubtle distortions. A verdict that the Supreme Court also reached. In the interests of journalistic fairness, I was attempting one more task: why should one candidate's record be torn to shreds while the other candidate's record remains unexamined? Mr Shekhawat has been in public life for 60 years, are we to conclude his past is spotless? The charges against Bhairon Singhji may not amount to much, but since we are using the word "tainted" freely, it applies to him too! I think I am more sinned against than sinning.
