Advani,Pranab Mukherjee and the Praise

It was a sight to behold. L.K. Advani going out of his way to praise Pranab Mukherjee "Sometimes I think, had Pranab not been there what would happen to this government? Whenever there is a crisis, he is there. 25 years ago, he presented the budget and did so again on Monday as it was a crisis situation," remarked Advani.

The sight however was Pranab Mukherjee. A smile and a tinge of blush. I have never seen Mr. Mukherjee smile in recent times. Blame it to the relentless situations that we have been confounded with and somehow Mr. Mukherjee always finds him int centre of the storm trying to guide the ship of the government.

Whatever Advani ascribed to the erstwhile Finance Minister though is pretty correct. Mukherjee has been the primary fire fighter for the government whether it was the nuclear deal or the confidence vote. His acceptability across political parties must have come in quite handy for the part

However the type of politics in the current scenario Advani's remark could also be interpreted as a gentle dig. Though Pranab has been appointed the leader of the House in the Prime Ministers absence, people did not miss the fact that he was not appointed the Prime Minister for the period nor was anything mentioned oficially.

The snub could have had various reasons ranging from lack of confidence in the 10 Janpath circles to internal demographics in the alliance which may have prompted the action. i personally don't identify Pranab as leading the government. Of the present Congress leadership Manmohan Singh still remains the no.1 candidate. I would really love for someone like P. Chidambaram to have a go at the post which may not happen anytime soon or never at all.

Reasons whatever be the, credit to Advani for scoring a very smart point in a very subtle way. The way in which it was done was very admirable hardly rabble-rousing but point conveyed nonetheless. Maybe i am being overtly critical reading too much into a genuine appreciative comment by the Leader of the Opposition. I still would think however that Advani is too smart and astute a politician to let out a comment in the House without scoring a point.