During an election speech at Chembur, Mumbai on 5^th September’99, a part of which was telecast in Star News under its programme ‘Newsmakers’ Shri Pramod Mahajan was explaining to the audience that though the BJP wanted the election to be held in May, the fixation of election date in September / October has proved to be a boon to his Party and its allies. In his words, This is because of God’s grace. He explained that had the election not been deferred to September, there would have been no Kargil and because of the deft handling of Kargil by Vajpayee, his image has reached a stature which cannot be touched by his political adversaries.

He might have got some applause or claps from the audience, but how cruel these words would be to those, who have lost their near and dear ones in the Kargil war. What message would these words carry to the bereaved families of the brave soldiers about the politicians, who treat their loss not as a national tragedy but as a blessing in disguise for attaining power. Notwithstanding Mr. Mahajan’s reputation in passing indecent remarks, this one is really in a poor taste. It stinks.