The ghost of Kandahar has come back to haunt Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani in the run up to the general elections. With the BJP campaign projecting Advani as a “determined leader” capable of delivering a “decisive government,” the Congress party raked up the surrender in Kandahar by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government to counter his campaign.

Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has said the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, headed by Vajpayee and in which Advani was a leading member, had the dubious distinction of shaking hands with the Taleban in Afghanistan. According to Sibal, the nation can never get over the spectacle of the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh escorting dreaded terrorists to Kandahar in Afghanistan and shaking hands there with the Taleban. Advani initially distanced himself from the decision, saying he was not in the know and that he was not present in the meeting of the Union Cabinet where the decision was taken. This was immediately contradicted by the then Union Defense Minister George Fernandes, who said that Advani was present at the meeting and was party to the decision. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also asserted that he opposed the move but Advani spoke to him defending the decision. To make confusion worse confounded, Jaswant Singh claimed in a recent interview that Vajpayee asked him to speak to Advani on Kandahar. In an interview to Arab News, Kapil Sibal discuss this and other contentious issues.

Excerpts from an interview:

The latest explanation coming from former External Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh on the Kandahar drama seems to add a new twist to the tale?

The BJP is on a sticky wicket and is fast losing ground in the parliamentary elections. This is evident from the contradictory statements from the party’s top leaders. As for Jaswant Singh’s revelations in a recent newspaper interview, one only wonders why it took him a full 10 years (1999-2009) to speak up. Why did he maintain a studied silence all these years? The people realize that this is clearly a case of political expediency. The only aim is to portray Advani in a favorable light.

How credible is the Jaswant Singh’s defense of Advani?

Jaswant Singh has several questions to answer. Kandahar was the adopted home of Osama Bin Laden, whose hand the former foreign minister saw in Kargil. Jaswant Singh needs to explain to the people why he escorted the dreaded terrorists to Kandahar. Yet, he went to Kandahar and interacted with the Taleban, which was not recognized by the Indian government. Jaswant Singh’s argument is that he had gone there in national interest. But how could his presence there change the outcome? What forced him to share his insights into the Indian Airlines plane (IC-814) hijacking case now?

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has been another issue on which the Vajpayee government has invariably been defensive. Why?

Former US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in his book, “Engaging India,” wrote that India, during the Vajpayee government, was close to signing the CTBT. The national consensus was against signing the CTBT and the previous governments had openly opposed it.

The Vajpayee government interlocutor Jaswant Singh repeatedly assured Talbott that India would sign the treaty, although there was a parliamentary resolution prohibiting it. Talbott writes that Jaswant Singh had assured him that ‘Vajpayee had taken an irreversible decision to sign the CTBT — it was just a question of how and when to make the decision public.’

How do you see it all playing out in the elections?

Would the people of the country believe in what Jaswant Singh says? His past record indicates otherwise. The purpose of Jaswant Singh’s statement would not serve the purpose of projecting Advani in favorable light. Advani would have to remain content with the tag of Prime Minister-in-waiting even after the elections.