Did Vajpayee think that his "Mahatma Drama" would boomerang on the very day of its enactment? He chose the day of Gandhi’s assassination to sit on fast for atonement by putting in Gandhi grab. The thrust on Gandhi was his strategy to distance the BJP from the RSS which has a hand in Gandhi’s assassination. While at the same time to place himself in the position of a leader above the BJP and also the RSS.

But as a fasting Vajpayee addressed the nation through AIR /DD and invoked Gandhi’s ideals to preach culture of tolerance, obstensively hitting out at his detractors in the saffron camp, his parliamentary affairs Minister Mr. M.L. Khurana resigned in what is seen as a victory of hawks in the Sangh Parivar. At the same time Shiv-Sena Supremo Bal Thakeray’s axe fell on Chief Minister Monohar Joshi in Mumbai. Everybody knows that Mr. Narayan Rane who has succeeded Joshi as Chief Minister is a blue-eyed boy of Bal Thakeray, while Joshi is close to BJP. Thus, Thakeray asserts his is the last word in Sena-BJP governance.

Nobody had taken seriously Vajpayee’s fast or for that matter, his strategy behind it. Yet it was hardly thought that his detractors would hit back so soon. Adding to his troubles, some of his key allies indicated that they might withdraw their support because of his government’s failure to protect the lives of minorities and also of its move to hike the administrative prices of rice, wheat, sugar etc. without consulting the allies.

Vajpayee's trouble-shooter Mr. Fernandez could not help much his boss this time. Even Mamata did not relent on Fernandez mission.