Shekhar Gupta: If Sukhois were Rafales, HAL would fly

And the Great Indian Bureaucrat will be the Marshal of the Air Force. Bofors mummified our defence acquisitions, Rafale could entomb it now

Since recent history is now divided between what came before or after Google, 20 years old now, this story just about makes the cut as it dates back to early 1998. George Fernandes had just been appointed the surprise defence minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet, to much scepticism. How was a trade union maverick in crumpled kurta-pyjama and chappals going to run India’s most formal, spit-and-polish ministry?

Mr Fernandes surprised us by how quickly he found his way around. The first challenge he encountered was breaking the vicious circle, or rather circles within concentric circles of the I’ll-do-nothing-I’ll-let-you-do-nothing bureaucracy.