Mahajan matters

As BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan battles for his life, at stake is something more than just his survival: at stake is the survival of the modern, progressive face of the party that Mr Mahajan represents. It is the face represented earlier by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, a face that brought the party to power after it was in the wilderness as the Opposition for several decades. Mr Mahajan’s only two rivals for the top party post, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Arun Jaitley, lack some of the leadership qualities that he has. Ms Swaraj is not always very progressive in her ideas, while Mr Jaitley, a brilliant lawyer, has been rather harsh of late and has no constituency of his own. They do not have the charismatic following that Mr Mahajan has, nor his feel for strategic alliances particularly during the time of elections. By dint of these qualities, in Maharashtra he beat Mr Sharad Pawar at his own game and was able to bring the Shiv Sena-BJP to power for the first time in decades. Not only is he a brilliant strategist, but he is also able to convince even his foes of the positive fallout of his strategies. It is Mr Mahajan who charts out the party’s road map in the jungle of elections, and then dons the mantle of a tireless campaigner. In fact, he had just returned to Mumbai from a hectic campaigning in Assam and said he would rest for three days before going back to Delhi. But this was not to be. He was shot by his younger brother and his life now hangs by a gossamer thread according to all medical specialists. The political scenario in the country is livelier because of the presence of Mr Mahajan whose wit and repartees are unmatched and lacking in the second rung leadership of all other political parties. In fact, no other party has a spokesperson in the mould of Mr Mahajan. The Congress had the late Madhavrao Scindia who could be on good terms with everyone across the political spectrum. The late Rajesh Pilot too had the same endearing qualities. However, their exit from this world in the prime of their lives has left a vacuum in the Congress.