Vajpayee mulls coalition dharma at book launch

What do you get when three former Prime Ministers, Atal Behari Vajpayee, IK Gujral and Chandra Shekhar get together? A debate on the coalition dharma. This is hardly surprising, considering all three headed coalition governments in their time, with varying degrees of success.

Vajpayee, who was there with Gujral to release Chandrashekhar's book, The Quest, The Hurdles: A Socialist Testament, fired the first salvo.

"I do not agree with Chandrashekhar when he says coalitions denigrate the office of the Prime Minister, as small regional parties put the office under strain," Vajpayee said in his speech, which was surprisingly delivered in English.

Recently, Vajpayee penned a book on his experiences of coalition politics, taking, he says, "inspiration from other members of the former Prime Ministers' club".

"I believe there is no difference between democracy and a coalition government. As it reflects the will of the people, it is what people want," he said.  "It is possible to run a coalition with dignity," he added.

Vajpayee, who is a close personal friend of Chandrashekhar, said the latter would "forever be a rebel at heart". "Chandrashekhar never hesitates to criticise and he has criticised me many a time," Vajpayee said.

Chandrashekhar too was fulsome in his praise, saying if there was one person in politics who he respected, it was Vajpayee. He, however, did not spare the former prime minister.

"The way the dignity of coalition governments is being violated is painful to watch. Vajpayee has also suffered this, and however much he may deny it, I know in his heart of hearts he agrees with me," he said.