NEW DELHI -- For three years as Indian prime minister, the aging Atal Bihari Vajpayee was treated deferentially by the national media and intelligentsia. They portrayed him as a great leader, to whom there was no credible alternative. Even when his physical condition began to slip visibly, no questions were raised about his health or capacity to lead a nation of 1 billion people.
It took just one major scandal to shatter the high esteem in which Vajpayee was held. In a bribery expose last week, the president of Vajpayee's party and some others were caught on camera accepting cash bribes from two journalists posing as arms dealers. The journalists' hidden video camera also recorded statements concerning the shady role played by some of Vajpayee's political cronies.
Now the political knives are out, with the opposition stalling all proceedings in Parliament to demand Vajpayee's resignation, and some members of the governing coalition stepping up pressure on the prime minister to oust his cronies.