By IANS
New Delhi : Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Brajesh Mishra is choosing to keep mum on then deputy prime minister L.K. Advani’s comments in his forthcoming autobiography that he strongly differed with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee over Mishra holding dual posts in the government.
“I have no comments to make,” Mishra said when told about the excerpts referring to him during the tenure of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
In his autobiography “My Life My Country”, to be released here Wednesday, Advani has written about differences between him and Vajpayee over Mishra holding both the posts of national security adviser and principal secretary to the prime minister. Vajpayee had overruled these objections, that Advani said were shared by other senior leaders of the government, and Mishra remained the most powerful bureaucrat in the then administration by virtue of these twin positions.
There was speculation that Mishra may skip the function at which the book will be released by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. “Why do you want to know?” he shot back when asked about it.
Vajpayee has written the foreword to the book. But he was far too unwell to attend the release function, Advani’s personal secretary Deepak Chopra had told IANS earlier.
Advani’s book comes at a time when he has been officially anointed by his party as its prime ministerial candidate.
His relationship with Vajpayee during the NDA tenure has been the subject of much speculation.