Doctor dissent The small conference room at New Delhi's Press Club of India overflows with journalists, television cameramen and excitement. Facing them Dr J.K. Jain, 55, dressed in a black buttoned prince coat, looks at best like a podgy sugar mill baron, at worst like a slightly emaciated Bappi Lahiri. But appearances can be deceptive. On Friday, as he gave press reporters a select preview, hours before a so-called expose of nepotism and misuse of power involving Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra was telecast on JAIN (Joint American Indian Network) TV, the former BJP Rajya Sabha MP was both defiant and pugnacious. 'I challenge anyone who challenges me,' he said. Few were surprised when the surgeon turned media baron was thrown out of the BJP's national executive on Wednesday. Everyone knew it was coming, especially after the good doctor sent a lawyer's notice to his partyman - the Prime Minister - for not acting against officials who had dubbed him an ISI agent. By officials, Jain primarily meant Mishra. The war between the two had been hotting up. Some time ago, Jain had applied for an uplinking facility for a proposed teleport. The application was apparently turned down after the government received a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) report that called him an ISI agent. Jain believes Mishra was behind the report. Many aver that at the core of the fracas is a property dispute. For long years, Jain has been operating from the Scindia Villa, a 32-acre property bang in the middle of the Capital. The property belongs to Rajmata Scindia, who, the family says, allowed Jain to use some three acres of it on a temporary basis. Now, the Scindia sisters want the land back and Jain is pretty much loath to part with it. Jain also charges Mishra of siding with the Scindias. And hence, he argues, the RAW report. Though the government recently bestowed two favours on him: granting permission for a TV news agency and allowing uplinking facilities - Jain is far from assuaged. 'If you were branded an ISI agent, then what would you do? Would you not turn to judiciary if all else fails,' he asks with injured innocence. There is other evidence though that he is not a model tenant. His Defence Colony landlord has filed three civil suits against him. Jain's origins are humble. He grew up in Baraut in western Uttar Pradesh where his father sold grains and ghee in the mandi. Jain, the first graduate from his village, went to the Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi to do his MBBS. It was as a student that he got his first shot of political prominence. Medical students were on strike, and Jain was leading them. An associate recalls that the strike was fizzling out, and Jain was about to be sidelined as a failed student leader. 'But a senior BJP leader got in touch with the authorities and persuaded them to announce some concessions for the students so that Jain wouldn't lose face,' he says 'And that worked.' Jain took longer than usual to complete his MS - his friends say it was because of political reasons, but others believe he just took some extra time to clear his examinations. After which he started practising in Darya Ganj in Delhi. He got married to Ragini, also a doctor. The Jains were very active during the Emergency. Many link Jain's political rise to Ragini's stellar role during it. It is believed she was in charge of driving Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Nanaji Deshmukh (then underground) across the country. Shortly after, Jain became the secretary of the medical unit of the Deen Dayal Institute. But Jain was the kind to have a finger in every pie. As a young doctor, he acquired the political magazine, Surya, from Maneka Gandhi while she was still living in 1, Safdarjang Road as a member of the Gandhi family. After Surya faded out, he started his own video production unit. Jain, in fact, was one of the first to set the catchy video-on-wheels electioneering campaigns rolling in 1989. Speeches of political leaders, interspersed with parodies of film songs, became an effective mode of campaigning in the late eighties. In the nineties, his Ayodhya videos formed a potent and popular part of the BJP's election campaign. After a Rajya Sabha stint, it was thought that he would settle down to promoting his television outfit, JAIN TV. The satellite boom had opened the doors to lucre, and many believed Jain, with his political connections, would be the media czar of the future. After all, everyone knew that he was not just close to Vijayraje Scindia, but to L.K. Advani as well. Things didn't quite work out that way. JAIN TV didn't get aired in the beginning, thanks to a series of hitches. And when it did, other TV channels already had a fair share of the country's eye-balls. All that poor Jain could do was telecast some adult films at night to catch the interest of the late-night voyeur. For the last couple of years, Jain has been busy trying to build up an infotech park in Greater Noida, which will house the country's first private teleport and an international gateway for data uplinking. Last month, the government - in a bid to put a lid over the sordid Jain-Mishra row - gave him the green signal for his ambitious project. But with Jain having gone ahead with his expose titled, Pardafash, on Friday, for Mishra, the battle is far from over. Perhaps, Jain can afford to be cocky, because he knows he enjoys the backing of some powerful members of the party and the RSS. But others fear that this time Jain could have bitten off more than he can chew, culminating in his exit from the BJP national executive. Observers believe it won't be long before he is booted out of the party as well. Yet few can deny that Jain's battle is no longer confined to a property dispute. In his letter to party president Bangaru Laxman, he wondered why senior party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani were siding with Mishra. 'Why is the entire might of the party being used to cover the corruption and misdeeds of Brajesh Mishra?' he asked. An uncomfortable question that can embarrass the BJP and delight the Opposition. Being in charge of a television channel, Jain knows his strength. Being an insider, he knows the weaknesses of his rivals. Dr Jainendra Kumar Jain knows the way the game is played. And one can hardly wait for the next episode.