His first term turned out to be a 13-day wonder in 1996 and Jayalalitha cut his second term short in 11 months last year thanks to withdrawal of support. The low point, however, was the hijack of the Kathmandu-Delhi Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar in Afghanistan, almost eroding the credibility of the government in December last. On the Kashmir front, the government showed willingness for a dialogue by initiating talks with Hizbul Mujahideen although unfortunately, no progress could be made. The brutal massacre of about 100 people including several Amarnath pilgrims had a snowballing effect in the sensitive border state. The passage of an autonomy resolution by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly also added fuel to the fire and the central government had a hard time.
Problems never come in single.
The Gujarat government s order allowing government servants to participate in RSS activities created a furor in the country with the entire Opposition stalling the working of the parliament and forcing the federal government to make the state government rescind the order. Also the setting up of the Constitution Review Commission created more headache for the government despite its declaring its good intentions that the move was not intended to change the basic fabric of the structure. Vajpayee s charisma boosted NDA s showing in Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections, but failed to make much dent in the assembly elections in the RJD-ruled state. Kumar resigned as chief Minister shortly before facing the confidence vote in the assembly after failing to muster a majority. The visit of the US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the country as also the prime minister s visit to the United States proved that the government meant business and the department headed by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh outscored other ministries.