New Delhi, Dec. 11 :    New Delhi, Dec. 11:  The chickens have come home to roost. In 1999, the BJP and the Sangh parivar chanced on a 'novel' strategy of squeezing the emotive value of the Kargil war by making elaborate arrangements to send the bodies of the slain soldiers in decorated caskets to their families instead of a funeral in the war zone, as was the practice. Five months later when the country went to polls, the BJP's Kargil strategy paid dividends in some seats and helped its alliance reach the magic figure that brought Atal Bihari Vajpayee to power. Two years later, the same coffins have come to haunt the NDA government, thanks to a special report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India on the Kargil-era procurement. The report detected gross irregularities in the purchase of coffins by the army. It brought Parliament to a standstill today and had the BJP at its wit's end on how to evolve a counter-offensive. According to the CAG, an inflated amount was paid for the aluminium caskets bought to send the bodies. Many of these caskets were found to be oversized and useless. Now the army is left with caskets valued at Rs 1.47 crore but too heavy to be used. The Opposition was quickly off the mark to turn the BJP's coffin strategy on its head. Just as home minister L.K. Advani rose to introduce the anti-terror Ordinance in the Lok Sabha, members defied the newly-adopted code of conduct, marched into the well of the House and raised slogans: 'Coffin <>chor, gaddi chhodo' (Coffin thief, give up your post). Another MP shouted: 'This government is a thief. While the soldiers were shedding their blood, the government was busy making money. Defence minister George Fernandes, who was reinducted into the Cabinet only last month after the Tehelka disclosures, was the target of the combined ire. Opposition leaders of the Upper House have threatened to force adjournments unless he was sacked. Fernandes, who was brought to a BJP press briefing to narrate his version, fumbled all the way through. A press note prepared by his ministry was full of mistakes and the corrections were personally put out by him. All that he said in defence was he had quit as the defence minister when the coffins were actually delivered and by implication could not be made accountable. Fernandes said no inquiry would be ordered and the matter would be left to the public accounts committee of Parliament. He blamed the CAG for basing its report on 'hearsay'. So far, the government seems inclined to back Fernandes. However, BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, which will go to polls next February, were worried about the fallout. Uttar Pradesh BJP president Kalraj Mishra was seen in Parliament anxiously eliciting the details from MPs. Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of martyred soldiers in 1999 and most of them came from Uttaranchal, which was then part of the state. 'The issue is not just about corruption, it is linked to national pride. We went on an emotional high after the Kargil war and it helped us. We fear that this episode may pull us down equally swiftly because the very word kafan (coffin) is emotionally fraught with memories of Kargil,' an MP said.