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Nuclear button will remain
with PM in hospital too

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will retain all authority, including the power to take decisions on matters of national security, during his knee surgery and recuperation in Bombay, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said Friday.

"Where did you get the idea that the prime minister is going to delegate charge? He will be apprised of all national and international developments at regular intervals and will take all crucial decisions himself," Mahajan told reporters after Friday morning's Union Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office.

The minister dismissed a suggestion that the "nuclear button" (the power to launch nuclear weapons) would be with the Cabinet Committee on Security in Vajpayee's absence.

"Prime Minister Vajpayee has travelled abroad several times, but he never delegated his powers to anybody. He was recently in the United States for a 13-day official visit, but continued to be in charge of the government back home all the time," Mahajan pointed out.

According to a senior official in the PMO, steps have already been taken to ensure smooth functioning of the government in Vajpayee's absence.

"Prime Minister Vajpayee is undergoing a knee operation, why must anyone assume that he is afflicted with a serious malady. I can assure you that he will be back in business very soon and so it will not serve any purpose to speculate about his health," the official added.

Mahajan's assertion that complete governmental control would vest with Vajpayee, meanwhile, has given rise to fresh speculation about the undercurrents of rivalry between him and Advani.

At the recently concluded national convention of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Nagpur, rumours abound about the Vajpayee-Advani rift. The appointment of Bangaru Laxman as the party president and the sidelining of some of Advani favourites were cited as indications of the widening rift.

The PM's surgery : The full coverage

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