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		Virendra Kapoor

	How often do people lament the lack of 'decent' men in politics? But do they see what happens when apparently decent people change when they enter politics? Former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan and the Congress candidate put up against leader L K Advani in Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat, was desperate seeking a BJP ticket "from any constituency in Tamil Nadu". Yes, that's the same man who said he was the "best candidate from the best party in the best constituency". Maybe he just made a bad choice earlier. But at that time he was so desperate that he used to ring up a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha and badger him day and night. Ten days before he accepted a Congress ticket, Seshan called his BJP member friend long-distance. "You are only BJP," he said. "But, you know, I'm one step ahead of you ... I am Shiv Sena. Unlike you, I am a practising Hindu... "Please tell Advaniji and Vajpayeeji that they cannot get a stronger Hindu in Tamil Nadu than me. I will be an asset to Hindutva... I have nothing but respect and admiration for Advaniji, for what he has done for the spread of Hindutva..." And then he took the chance he got, and stood up against Advani in the elections. Seshan -- the same man who wore an expensive ring gifted to him by good friend Chandraswami, who travelled by a controversial industrialist's aircraft on a private errand and who had his 'family trust' in the house of don Romesh Sharma -- can FF be trusted to dissociate himself from the Shiv Sena now. In the last presidential election he was Sena's candidate and, after losing that badly, had pestered Sena chief Bal Thackeray no end for a berth in the Rajya Sabha. So much, then, for the 'decent man' who wrote A Heart Full of Burden. Three chiefs, one ticket At least three former CBI chiefs were keen on post-retirement careers in politics. Joginder Singh wanted BJP ticket, preferably from Punjab, his home state. R C Sharma, who's close to Haryana Congress leader Bhajan Lal, and who is alleged to have done his bit to keep the Bofors scam under wraps, hoped the Congress would launch his political career. But it was Vijaya Rama Rao, who was least inclined to join politics, who got a ticket, being invited by the Telugu Desam Party to contest for them. And though he's picking up arms on behalf of the TDP, he even has the blessings of former prime minister Narasimha Rao in his new career. Too many madams Former chief executive councillor of Delhi, Jag Parvesh Chandra, is liked by all, but he has more friends in the BJP and other parties than in his own faction-ridden Congress. Chandra, at the ripe old age of 84, is now learning some new tricks -- juggling with the surfeit of madams in his party. Since he is his own secretary and telephone operator, he often picks up the phone to find someone say, "Madam baat karegi.." And he is left wondering if it is Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, state minister Krishna Tirath, deputy speaker Kiran Chowdhary, the Congress MLA from Minto Road Tajdar Babbar or..." "Earlier we only had one madam, Indira Gandhi. And I had assumed that tradition of sole Madam in the party would continue with Sonia Gandhi..." Now he learns differently. Big money calling This controversial industrialist, who has been keeping ill though his bank balance has been pretty healthy, flew down from Bombay to Delhi. One of his first ports of call was 10 Janpath where he chatted with Sonia Gandhi and promised her all help in the elections. Word filtering out of Sonia's fortress had it that the industrialist reminded her of his association with the Nehru-Gandhi family and that his rise to the top of the corporate pie had much to do with the party's blessings. Later, to make things appear even-handed, the same afternoon the industrialist met Prime Minister Vajpayee. And then he flew back to Bombay. Now isn't that keeping both sides of your bread buttered? Making hay under a saffron sun The BJP too has its share of wheeler-dealers. Quite a few in the media have gone places, exploiting their self-advertised closeness to the Sangh Parivar. While a minor scribe, who had wandered into TV journalism for want of a job in the print media, has made millions exploiting his alleged links with Prime Minister Vajpayee and Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan, another has found himself a sinecure in a non-selling paper kept alive by a large corporate house. The holder of that sinecure we mentioned has done so well for himself exploiting his Sangh Parivar connections that he was invited to be a star speaker at a conference of industrialists organised by one of the oldest organisation of captains of industry and trade. The conference, held in a cool coastal town, was a mere junket for the saffron scribe. The hosts didn't expect any enlightenment from their guest; they were keeping him in a good frame of mind. Capital Buzz
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