Long Live Tejas; Merry X'mas Antony!

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: India's longest serving Defence Minister A K Antony couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift when his 'problem child' Tejas was cleared for admission to the military school run by the Indian Air Force (IAF). As the guardian of Tejas, Antony himself admitted that only the semifinals stage has been cleared, reminding the makers of Tejas that there's some more formalities they need to finish, before completing the 'admission' process.

A master of playing to the gallery, Antony did the politician's role perfectly, ensuring thunderous applause to everything he said. “Proud moment for India; Great day for IAF; Buy Indian, Make Indian; Import is our last priority; Don't put all the money in bank; spent on R&D...,” his flawless phrases got the audience behind him. And, the breaking news of the day: Tejas gets second initial operational clearance.

Every speaker during the Friday's event earmarked a major chunk of their time to praise “Honourable Raksha Mantriji.' “You are the guiding force Sir; You gave us encouragement Sir; You stood by us rock solid Sir; You made it possible; You did it; You, you, you...” Antony's restless PR managers too ensured that the post-event press conference was wound-up quickly, leaving no time time for the media to fire their 'missiles.' Every query at the press meet was dismissed within minutes, leaving nothing substantial to report.

So what makes Antony truly a Tejas man? In the last couple of years, Antony received maximum queries from his ministerial colleagues and flak from the media for the delay in two projects – MBT Arjun and Tejas. “Despite all the negative publicity Tejas got, the defence minister stood by us. He never made any negative remarks on the programme. Never there was any fund crunch for Tejas, despite some objections from the Finance Ministry. He tolerated us every time we failed to deliver on time. There were many occasions he was criticised by own cabinet colleagues,” says a senior scientist, part of the Tejas project.

Team Tejas terms the developments in the last six months as most crucial. “We missed the IOC-2 event which was earlier scheduled in September. The defence minister started separate review of Tejas, along with every major stakeholder in the programme. We could see a very personal touch to everything he did during these reviews,” an official from DRDO said. “The constant question was when he Tejas gong to come. And, what was causing the delay? And, he was aware that the IAF would never accept a fighter sacrificing the safety,” he added.

Finally, it was definitely Antony's day. He even got an extra bouquet from an event management girl, who by mistake presented him with a second one, instead of giving it to the man sitting next to him.
When the Lady Luck smiles at you; grab them all!
Copyright@The New Indian Express

Chopper scam: Bouquets and brickbats for Antony

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: For Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony, India’s defence minister, often referred to as the ‘cleanest politician,’ the AgustaWestland (AW) chopper scam has definitely come at a wrong time. While he ensured that the Services got all that they have asked for to meet their demands of the future -- in terms if new (imported) assets -- the latest scam again points fingers at the system and the men, he is leading.

In all the scams that ripped apart the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the recent times -- be it the Adarsh Housing Society scam, Sukuna land scam, Ordinance Factory Board scam, frozen meat scam and the Tatra truck scam – Antony got away unscathed, with those found guilty paying heavy price. Surprisingly Antony, UPA-IIs senior-most and influential minister, never came under any direct and serious attack from the opposition or from the media either.

However, it’s an all out war on the social media sites, which follow Indian defence matters from very close quarters. Probably for the first time in his stint as the defence minister, he is been fired from close range. And, going by the mood, 24 hours after Antony ordered a CBI probe into the AW deal, most felt that he acted very late.

Uday Sinh Walla from Mumbai writes on a defence blog that Antony assiduously worked only to maintain his ‘clean’ image. “He remains ineffectual and as much a plodder and unfocussed on the needs of the defence forces as any other defence minister we have had. His cleanliness has had no impact on the MoD and its performance in any way during his entire tenure,” he claims.

Anil Kumar from Dhanbad felt that a CBI probe means history being repeated itself. “The case would linger for many and we might end up spending more public money on investigation than the actual bribe paid,” he says on the same blog. Indian Army Fans – a popular fan movement on FB, too has recorded some very critical remarks. “All politicians are the same. On one hand the Indian youth are exploring all possible ways to compete with the world and on other hand politicians are making downgrading our pride,” says S Yadav from Hyderabad.

However, it is not an outright Antony-bashing out there, with many crediting him for being done immensely for the welfare of the armed forces. A comment by Renjith Kumar from Abu Dhabi posted on the Indian Air Force Fans FB page by giving Antony the benefit of doubt. “Can anyone suggest a politician in the UPA government who is cleaner than Antony and can handle the Defence Ministry in a better way? The bugs are within the Services. Don’t blame Antony for the mess,” he says.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Also read, Tarmak007 Edit: Wake up, Mr Antony

TARMAK007@FB

Tarmak007 Edit: Wake up, Mr Antony!

With so many scams unearthed during his tenure as India's defence minister, may be it's time for Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony to do some serious thinking. Antony always managed to get away 'very mysteriously' 'despite being haunted by some of the worst-hit scams during his tenure. He has always played to the gallery with statements like: "I will not allow corruption; no guilty person will be spared; I will not tolerate corruption in defence deals." 

May be it's time for India's cleanest politician to realize that he is heading a ministry that's stinking of scams, all the time. His supporters might argue that why should he bear the brunt, when he has done nothing and his hands are clean. After all, he has punished the guilty in all scams and ordered probe(s) whenever he smelt something fishy -- his men would argue!

But, Antony's detractors would sight the latest chopper scam probe as a classic example of a delayed decision. India today needs a vibrant defence minister who can act on time and inspire its forces, they would argue. 

If Antony thinks that he is managing the show perfectly, then may be he must keep this famous saying in mind: "A stitch in time saves nine!"

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