Calcutta Diary

chief minister has now discovered traces of Calcutta Diary megalomania befitting a Muhammad bin Tughlak in the person of the prime minister, A M how can he in all fairness disown the GOING by the evidence of recent weeks, governance in New Delhi is increasingly resembling the Peter Sellers-Peter Ustinov world, with perhaps an extra touch of evil. Leave aside the hash in PunjabThe roster of gaffes and whimsical decisions, even otherwise, is, of an impressive order. The imperial visits to the states, whose principal purpose has seemingly been only to hog prime television time and enlighten the Planning Commission on who is the boss. The thoughtless canonisation of Subhash Ghisingh. The spasmodic exertions to turn a zero sum game in Sri Lanka into a nonzero sum one. The roughing of the two secretaries to the government directly responsible for agriculture and rural development. The marching orders to the foreign secretary. The effective dismantling, lock, stock and barrel, of the apparatus of the Congress party, which, at least formally, had won the national elections in December 1984. The bouncing of the finance minister. The manufactured scare over a possible outbreak of hostilities with Pakistan. The mess over naming a new chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Twisting the arm of the Election Commission so that elections in Haryana could wait for Bansilal-the-not yetready. The on-again off-again stance of aggression towards China. The smug complacency in the face of a frightening deterioration in the nation's economic circumstances.