"PM is appearing neutral in a moral crisis of epic magnitude" --- who said so ??? :::::: Quality of Debate in Parliament is 'always in question' these days ::: We miss the oratory skills of the likes of Jaipal Reddy or K L Sharma and V N Gadgil !!

The old school of journalism and our love for old-timers among lawmakers who scruitinized a bill properly and also debated it effectively. 

K L Sharma, who pioneered BJP’s media cell, along with J P Mathur, made it a point to interact informally with reporters even during late hours.

S Jaipal Reddy, who died on July 28, 2019, had excelled as spokesman for Janata Dal, used read at least 20 newspapers every morning preparing for the “afternoon onslaught” and the results were always forthcoming.

S Jaipal Reddy 

Compared to this, a Congress spokesman in 2005 surprised scribes with feigning ignorance on which Minister was served with non-bailable warrant. “Congress or Prime Minister is second to none in upholding public accountability,” the leader had said.

Such rhetoric if part of the strategy serves no purpose for the party interest. Similar was the case when weeks after weeks stories were being taken merely on speculation – and often planted by Congress spokespersons themselves – that cabinet expansion was on cards.

Actually all key Congress media managers from Anand Sharma to Ambika Soni were seen among hopefuls.

In BJP, all blue-eyed-boys and girls (especially Sushma Swaraj) of Advan-Vajpayee era were only ambitious lot.

In later stage, some people were lucky - Nirmala Sitharaman, a former spokesperson is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'a key trusted aide'. 

She became first woman Defence Minister and also first woman Finance Minister.  

Though he became a Congressman at a later stage and took part in many debates cornering stalwarts such as PM in office Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Late Jaipal Reddy would be perhaps best remembered for his criticism of Arun Shourie, then 'Editor' of a powerful newspaper.

In response Shourie’s article that claimed that V P Singh had 'approved' of removing of bricks from Ayodhya, displaying the irreplaceable gift-of-the-gab, Jaipal Reddy had reacted:

“After excelling in journalism; Mr Shourie is now trying to excel in fiction writing”. 

The utter vulgarity and name calling as found these days was not there, but the message was very powerful.

Unlike today’s generation of suave and ambitious individuals, the role of spokespersons for political parties has come a full circle. 

But unlike the era of V N Gadgil (Congress) and K L Sharma (BJP), both deceased, there is a perceptible change in the functioning of politicians to work as party’s face before the media.

“One should have political acumen with good grasp on various issues?,” the late Gadgil had tole me in 1998.

I was a new comer in Delhi from far off northeast; and found it extremely helpful. When he came to know, I was keen for an article of introduction of Parliamentary Standing Committees system; he offered me to 'help' for an appointment with the former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil. 

Gadgil did not hesitate to describe himself as “a learned fool” – to keep the humour line open. 

Once I asked Gadgil if he committed any mistake in handling questions from journalists. His response was - "Yes, I should have avoided one direct question. I was asked if Narasimha Rao is Mr Clean... I said yes... and then slowly cases against Rao started coming. Actually, I should have skirted that question".  

The demise of S Jaipal Reddy or K L Sharma and Gadgil actually had left a big vacuum in the political space and only highlights the great transition one sees among the political spokespersons and MPs who unlike the present generation players perfectly knew the art of giving out the knockout punch without being impolite and vulgar.

Certainly, the generation was not necessarily the camera-savvy glib talkers.  

ON N T Rama Rao's death, Jaipal Reddy was again at his best with minimum words: "National Front is orphan today". 

N T R was the chairman of National Front that had parties such as Janata Dal, AGP, DMK and TDP as the key constituents.

Prominent editor of his time, Arun Shourie was also sacked by the newspaper owner for that controversial article on V P Singh and Babri Masjid. 

The quote from Jaipal on Arun Shourie had said it all ! There was no spewing personal vitriol - no heart burning either.

Arun Shourie 

There were few other occasions when Jaipal Reddy displayed his talent 

making use of powerful phrases and showing the faultline in the rivals' camp(s).

In December 2000, the Lok Sabha had taken up a detailed debate on the Babri Masjid demolition.

The motion, moved under Rule 184 that entails voting had said - "This House calls upon Prime Minister (Vajpayee) to drop three ministers (L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharati)....for their involvement in demolition of Babri Masjid".

Late Reddy, then a Congress lawmaker initiated the debate attacking PM Vajpayee and had said - 

Vajpayeeji had mounted the 'chauvanist Hindutva tiger' and completed his pilgrimage from "hypocrisy to theocracy".

Terming the demolition of the Masjid at Ayodhya as a 'colossal crime', Jaipal Reddy also had said - 

"Prime Minister is appearing neutral in a moral crisis of epic magnitude".

Late Jaipal's remarks during the debate at a later stage left the likes of Vinay Katiyar and two Ministers of State for Home I D Swami and Vidya Sagar Rao (present Governor of Maharashtra) anguished when he had stated:

"Govindacharya may be banished temporarily, but Prime Minister Vajpayee's mask has been removed permanently".

One time BJP general secretary K N Govindacharya had triggered a major row when he was quoted as saying that the Late Vajpayee was only a 'mask' when it came to BJP's otherwise hardline Hindutva politics.

Jaipal and other opposition leaders of early 1990s 

ends