'I learnt more from the ten months of the Deve Gowda govt than I did in fifty years of public life'

It was a quaint birthday morning for United Front convener Nara Chandrababu Naidu who has played the anchorman's role in resolving this week's leadership crisis. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister was greeted early on Sunday morning, by two men, one of whom he helped elevate as chairman of the United Front and quite possibly India's 12th prime minister; the other man had aspired to that very position, was the frontrunner in the race for most of the week, but faltered at the last hurdle and eventually hobbled out of the fray.

G K Moopanar was among the first callers at Andhra Bhavan, to wish Naidu on his 47th birthday. Gujral would extend his greetings later, at the meeting of the UF parliamentary party which Naidu convened to endorse Saturday night's selection of H D Deve Gowda's successor.

It was a morning of rousing speeches and ample sentiment.

Gujral, who described himself as a ''humble man'' at a press conference on Saturday, reprised that image once again for the assembled MPs, promising them that his government's priority would be to render social justice to the wretched of the earth.

But before that, there was a moment of candour, and perhaps regret as the outgoing leader of the Front, H D Deve Gowda, admitted that there was a ''communication gap'' with the Congress which led that party to withdraw support to his government.

But it was not the time, he said, to find fault with anyone, and moved on to thank his colleagues for their support. In its tenor, it was the early Deve Gowda on Friday, April 11; the bumbling farmer, unsure of what to say next.

Deve Gowda then spoke of Gujral's credentials for the prime minister's position, his long experience in public life, his background of working for India's freedom. He also spoke of the need to successfully implement the UF's common minimum programme. ''This is the Bible for the United Front,'' he said.

But Deve Gowda was past, Inder Gujral is present and perhaps future. The new Front leader, not the most articulate of men, called for a ''new promise'' to take India into a better future. It was tried and tested rhetoric, perhaps the kind of banter Gujral exchanged with his friends at Delhi's India International Centre, when he was on the periphery of politics, banished from centrestage by the imperial dictates of Indira Gandhi and her son.

There was some confusion in the morning's newspapers. Some said Deve Gowda was unhappy with the choice of his successor. he would have preferred brother Kannadiga S R Bommai or the ebullient Ram Vilas Paswan, his railways minister. Others spoke of Gujral being Deve Gowda's nominee, additionally supported by the Front's guardian angel, Vishwanath Pratap Singh.

If the effusive praise that Gujral had for Deve Gowda is any indication, the latter version is correct. Or may be, twenty years of diplomatic service on this nation's behalf has equipped Gujral with all the right phrases at just the right moment. "I learnt more during the ten months of the Deve Gowda government," he said, "than what I did during fifty years of public life.'' Fifty years that included office under Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and V P Singh. So was Deve Gowda good enough to stand alongside the best of them?

"It was precisely because of Mr Deve Gowda," Gujral went on, "that I was able to push through a lot of things on the diplomatic front. It was a unique experience for me that every decision taken by the Union Cabinet was unanimous. This has never happened before."

The UF convener too had kind words for Deve Gowda, the first Indian prime minister to be hustled out of power by personal pique more than anything else. No one was dissatisfied with the performance of the Deve Gowda government, Naidu -- who memorably described the premier as characterless in an altercation over the Almatti Dam a few months ago -- said, and nobody had any doubts about the prime minister's acumen. ''We will remember with pride the ten month rule of the Deve Gowda government,'' he declared.

To Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost out in this challenge round for the leadership, goes the credit for the most pointed remark of the UFPP meeting. "This is the beginning of a new chapter in Indian politics," he said. "Most people felt the United Front would collapse as soon as it lost power. But that did not happen. The Front remained united."

Whether Paswan will have such things to praise six months from now, of course, remains to be seen.