Theatre of the absurd

<div class="section1"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/347791.cms" alt="/photo/347791.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" ms="" sans="" serif="" font-size:="">Ajit Jogi</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Just received an SMS — ''10 number </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">se awaz aye</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">, Jogi </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">hum to lut gaye tere pyar me''</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">.That''s the BJP grinning incessantly over its latest caper. Catching Ajit Jogi with his, well, defences down. Three days after a stunning electoral victory in three states, it could have been expected of the ruling party to exult with a little more gravitas. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">It could be the silly season. Or perhaps that everyone''s goofing around now that the holiday mood is upon us. But aren''t political events playing out like so many childish pranks at park time between 5 and 7 pm? Complete, with the deep sulks or total bewilderment from those at the receiving end.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">And we thought Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, having invented the subtle art of juvenile oneupmanship, would continue to be the finest exponents. Here are the BJP and the Congress engaged in frantic competition — not in good governance (what''s that?) — but in tripping the other up.</span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""> </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Every few days, a triumphant player from among the same cast of characters pulls out a rabbit from his hat — usually a tape, video or audio, with someone from the other side either handing over obscene sums of money or accepting it. The sting operation is so much a fad these days, one would have thought the wily politicos wouldn''t walk into the trap so easily. But they seem to do so all the time, don''t they?</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">No one would grudge Sonia Gandhi the pleasure she undoubtedly felt in giving Ajit Jogi the royal boot. The Chhattisgarh-chief-minister-till-10-am-or-so-on-Sunday had become the Gandhi''s biggest headache since the days when Messrs Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma could spoil a party. Yet one could not help feeling sorry for Jogi as he sat in detention at Chhattisgarh Bhawan through Sunday and no one was allowed to speak to him. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The unctuous smile has become tentative, alarmed even, as Jogi devoutly chants ''my supreme leader Sonia Gandhi'' to little avail. His bewilderment is understandable — he has undoubtedly got away with a lot more before. This time''s alleged crime, shocking as it is when sprung upon the world at an unearthly hour, is an activity that is the political world''s worst kept secret anyway.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">So what has an elaborate plan, masterminded by some of the country''s finest political brains proved? That politicians will do anything, even bribe other politicians to grab power? Big deal. Do such cloak and dagger games really mean anything? If they had, the BJP would not have won Chhattisgarh after the Judeo scandal.</span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />And how is Jogi''s crime bigger than that of Judeo, who was caught on camera accepting money? Or Judeo''s bigger than Bangaru Laxman? Why such a to-do about Tehelka''s modus operandi after it''s intrepid operation, the original sting, and none when Central ministers participate with such robust enthusiasm in one of their own? What has the BJP achieved from discrediting a man already in disgrace and shunned by the voters? If it''s only aimed at getting Sonia embarrassed, it doesn''t warrant the involvement of senior ministers.<br /><br />Elsewhere, the Bihar God is playing out his own little theatre of the absurd — the angry astonishment at former police chief D P Ojha''s "intemperate" remarks, is a case in point.<br /><br />The top cop was sacked not because bright, young and brave men like Satyendra Dubey get murdered routinely in Bihar. Not because the coal mafia is still supreme or because there is no deliverance from the adventures of the Ranvir Sena and the like. He was sacked because he had the temerity to suggest that all power was in the hands of lafange(rascals) in Bihar. Ojha has a nice turn of phrase, he uses poetry to describe his tussles with Laloo Prasad Yadav''s tribe.<br /><br />Of course, it doesn''t help Ojha''s cause that he has been indulging in unimaginable adventures like targeting Laloo''s near and dear ones — read Mohammad Shahbuddin, the Siwan strongman and MP from Laloo''s ruling RJD. <br /><br />Interesting man, this Shahbuddin. He is a political leader with a massive fan following and an equally long list of criminal charges against him. He is the kind that attends wedding receptions of ministers in the heart of Patna when there is an arrest warrant out against him. And does not get arrested. Police bigwigs present just turn away. Ojha arrested him this year. And before him, a man believed to have been the Siwan MP''s factotum — Sultan Miya, who headed a huge kidnapping ring. And now, a man who has Shahbuddin''s invaluable approval is Bihar police chief. <br /><br />It took Laloo less than a week of playing verbal ping-pong with Ojha before he decided to pull rank. Little word yet on the Dubey case save the mandatory inquiry. <br /><br />Just a little thought and it has nothing to do with Laloo''s Bihar, which a typical computer spell check will change to "Bizarre" everytime. For the rest of the bunch, is it a coincidence that all the extracurricular activities happen when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is out of town? Chew on it.</div> </div>