The scandal also implicates his private office and some of his most crucial aides. All have been accused of personal involvement in defence and power deals. Intriguingly, the loudest demands for their resignation have been coming not from the opposition, but from the prime minister's own Hindu revivalist allies, including his party's ideological wing, the Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh. Mr Vajpayee has made it clear that if they go, he goes. The prime minister's party managers are hoping that the government can tough out this week.
Parliament then adjourns for a three-week recess.
By the time it reassembles the fuss caused by the tehelka expose will have been forgotten, they hope. The fact that Jaswant Singh, India's foreign minister, has been given temporary charge of the defence minister's portfolio suggests that George Fernandes will get his old job back in four months time, after a judicial inquiry set up in the wake of the scandal has presumably exonerated him. But its credibility and authority has been demolished. This is such a major scandal that I think, by the end of the year, we may well see yet another election.