Sunset at Noon

A humble homage to the great soul
Pramodji was a solid party man,
he was one man for all seasons
By Arun Jaitley

Pramodji’s death opened the floodgates of memories and reminiscences of him by various writers. We are publishing a collage of such articles, some of which have been excerpted from leading newspapers and magazines.

It was in July last year that Pramodji, while leaving my room at the Escorts’ Hospital, wished me a speedy recovery and said, “Get well soon, you have to go to Bihar.” That was Pramodji, as we all affectionately called him—one man for all seasons. He was a total political being. Even if he had a slight possibility of recovery at the Hinduja Hospital, he would be thinking of his next political assignment. The man had more fire in the belly than any of his colleagues. That’s what made him stand out.

He was a solid party man. The BJP’s interest was the bottomline of his politics. He was the most active participant in any BJP meeting or activity. He always came prepared. At times, with a small notepad, with points written on it. He was made of serious stuff. Nothing was casual or off the cuff. He was never neutral in a debate. He always had a strong viewpoint. He argued his case logically. He was at the centrestage of all party meetings. Without him, the BJP meetings will never be the same again. Much that he had a strong viewpoint, he always submitted to collectivism. His shradha for both Atalji and Advaniji was immense. If he realized that either of them had a strong opinion on a subject he yielded to it immediately.

I always got the impression that his real Guru on organizational matters was Bhagwatji from Maharashtra from whom Pramodji learnt his lessons in the act of organizing. He quoted frequently from what his Guru had told him in a given context.

Pramodji was full of anecdotes. A great orator, he combined his ability to turn phrases with anecdotal references. That brought subtle humour in his speeches and earned him huge popularity as an orator.

Some of his speeches in Parliament were a textbook example of how to penetrate a point without annoying even the opposition. He produced some of the best contemporary one-liners.

He was large-hearted. In complimenting his colleagues. He knew that the act of organization needed to command the goodwill of his colleagues. He would both privately and publicly praise a colleague’s performance—would never hesitate to send a folded slip with a neatly written compliment about a colleague’s performance. He was indefatigable. Unquestionably amongst the most brilliant in his generation. He never followed the beaten path. He was always in search of new ideas and new strategies. He was never afraid of controversies or criticism.

He wasn’t any easy loser. You never lose till you stop trying, he would say repeatedly. That is what the man was. Even with three bullets in his body he did not stop trying—not till the very end. His tragic departure causes a vacuum for both his family and his party. A void which we can never fill. We will live with many memories of Pramodji; and keep quoting them as frequently as he quoted from Bhagwatji.

(The writer is a former Union Minister and BJP National General Secretary)

There was nobody
like Mahajan
By Yashwant Sinha

“PRAMOD MAHAJAN and I sat next to each other in the Rajya Sabha; after his seat was the aisle. The closeness did not end there.

My last meeting with Mahajan was at Silchar in Assam on March 23. I had offered to go to Assam to look after the BJP’s election campaign under his overall guidance. He suggested to me that I should camp at Silchar and look after the 15 seats in the Barak Valley.

I arrived at Silchar in the afternoon of March 23. Mahajan was out campaigning. In the evening, he came straight from the campaign trail to my hotel room. There was no trace of fatigue. He was full of energy, very alert, very alive. As was his wont, he gave me a detailed account of each seat in the Barak Valley and an account of our position in the state. I was naturally impressed by his knowledge of every little detail, his understanding of the political situation, his strategy and his advice to me. Then he handed over to me two documents - the first was a summary account of our position in each seat and the second was a document containing all the information one might want on every seat. That was Pramod Mahajan - a stickler for detail, a systematic organizer, a dynamic campaigner, a popular leader, a man who inspired confidence all around.

We had dinner together that evening. I was a little intrigued when he asked the waiter to bring him an onion mukka mar ke. He noticed my bewilderment and explained it was how he ate his onion - a whole onion crushed, not cut or sliced.

Mahajan was one the most competent ministers I have ever seen, as politician and as civil servant. He quickly acquired mastery over whatever subject he dealt with. He would not brook any delay. Once he spoke to me on the phone about an issue relating to the IT sector. I was at my constituency and he wanted the Finance Ministry’s clearance conveyed to him on the phone. I told him I would be returning to Delhi in a couple of days and we could perhaps discuss the matter then.

He said he could not wait that long. Since I was familiar with the subject myself and also knew how important it was, I agreed to convey the Finance Ministry’s approval on the phone. There was nobody quite like him. Pramod Mahajan is not replaceable.

(The writer is a former Union Minister and Senior BJP Leader)

A man of the modern world
By Neena Vyas

There was no job in the BJP that Pramod Mahajan did not handle — and handle with some finesse. Whether he was in the party or the government, he took every job seriously, working out every detail.

Institutions and political parties have a life beyond their tallest members. But there is no doubt that for years to come the Bharatiya Janata Party will not be the same without Pramod Mahajan.......

Between 1998 and 2003 he held the portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs, Information Technology, Communications, and Information and Broadcasting. Earlier, in 1996 during the 13-day Vajpayee Government, he was Defence Minister. His affability and ability to reach out to people across the political divide paid him handsome dividends and ensured his success as Parliamentary Affairs Minister. That same quality helped him deal with difficult coalition partners like the Shiv Sena. It was said that only Mr. Mahajan could tackle Balasaheb Thackeray, the Sena chief. His sense of humour never left him, even in adversity. When he became Minister for Information Technology he joked: “ IT has done remarkably well in India because so far it had been ignored by the government.” ......

Mr. Mahajan was a swayamsewak committed to the RSS ideology, and he was a man of the modern world.....

Mr. Mahajan was regarded as more realistic, less bombastic, and less pretentious than some of his colleagues. He was equally at home with an Ambani or a Tata as with a paanwala, equally friendly towards editors and reporters — his de-briefings were a delight, giving those in the media useful insights of games played in the corridors of power. And, thankfully, he was brutally frank about the nature of politics and politicians, understanding clearly that it was power — not morals — that made their world go round. He had nothing of the self-righteous priggishness.....

He was just under 30 when in 1978 he rose, by dint of his organisational capacity and hard work, to the position of General Secretary of the BJP’s Maharashtra unit. And in the next few years, helped by his incarceration during the Emergency, he became National Secretary and, in 1986, General Secretary. He held this position till the end, with only ministerial assignments interrupting this party work.

There was no job in the BJP that Mr. Mahajan did not handle — and handle with some finesse. Whether he was in the party or the government, he took every job seriously, working out every detail. Whether it was getting a ‘rath’ ready for Mr. Advani’s numerous ‘yatras’ or planning a special dinner to mark a thousand full-moon nights in Mr. Vajpayee’s life.... or organising a national council session of the party, Mr. Mahajan would attend to every detail.

When he was suddenly asked to leave the Vajpayee Government in 2003, to come back to the party organisation as General Secretary, some felt it was a “demotion” for him, but in fact he was brought to the party when the organisation needed to be strengthened. He proved his mettle, if proof was at all needed, when he spearheaded a handsome victory for the party in Rajasthan in late 2003. He could be modest — just before the Rajasthan results were out he was sceptical of a full majority, pointing out that the BJP had not achieved that even when Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was Chief Minister.

Mr. Mahajan’s is a major loss of organising talent for the BJP. Certainly, one could not talk about the “Gen-next” in the BJP without thinking of him. Just a few months before his death, he remarked jokingly that the media spoke about the younger generation in the party; but had he continued to be a schoolteacher — a job he took in 1971— he would have retired in a few years time — but as a politician, at 56, he was in the prime of his life.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

From journalism to politics: The Pune days
Avantika Bhuyan Reminisces

Friends and classmates from his journalism days — he took a diploma course at the Department of Communication and Journalism, Pune University, in 1971 — remember him as a good student, dynamic but ‘‘somewhat shy’’.

It’s the girls who found him shy but his close friends social worker Ajit Sardar and retired municipal corporation commissioner of Thane Abhay Patwardhan liked his dynamic and friendly personality.

‘‘We kept in regular touch till he became the BJP secretary,’’ says Patwardhan. Looking back, he admits they were an odd group of friends. Sardar, who passed away a couple of years ago, was a socialist, Mahajan believed in RSS ideology and Patwardhan more or less maintained a neutral stance on matters.

‘‘Pramod hardly ever talked about himself,’’ recalls Patwardhan but once in the middle of a discussion, said, ‘‘I will be a very big person in politics.’’

Mahajan’s initiation in politics had begun before he joined the journalism class at the Ranade Institute on FC Road. According to Patwardhan, it was M. S. Golwalkar Guruji, the second Sarsanghachalak of the RSS who sent him to pursue a course in journalism. L. N. Gokhale, who was the head of department at the institute when Mahajan was doing his diploma, too feels that he had political inclinations though it never came to the forefront during his stint here.

Mahajan didn’t collect his diploma after the course. The institute finally handed him the certificate in 2004. During his days at Ranade, Mahajan would study during the day and work nights at the pro-RSS Marathi daily Tarun Bharat as a sub-editor and reporter. Moreshwar Joshi, his friend and colleague from Tarun Bharat, remembers his love for spicy food, his rented room in Shaniwar Peth and his political acumen. In the early 1970s, Mahajan heard Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a public meeting. ‘‘Vajpayee’s oratory skills had impressed him. Pramod told me, ‘one day I will win the heart of this leader’, and he did it’’.

Mahajan had to give up his job earlier than expected. ‘‘Pramod’s entire life has been full of accidents. He wanted to continue with journalism for some time, but his father died and he was summoned to Ambejogai. He would send newsletters for Tarun Bharat from there. Soon, he began mobilising the youth in three districts of Marathwada to join Jan a Sangh.’’

During the Emergency, he organised protests all over Marathwada. He was arrested and sent to jail where he kept up the morale of fellow party workers. On his release, he was made state organiser of the party.

BJP is now minus Mahajan
Team loses star all-rounder

.....Individuals, they say, do not matter much in cadre-based political organisations. But Mahajan was not just another individual. Majahan was a rare entity—a leader who, for all his personal flamboyance, always put the interests of the party first........

For those who watched the Mahajan phenomenon unfold on the Maharashtra—and then the national stage—over the last two decades, the late BJP general secretary stood out from the crowd for his clarity of vision; his incurable optimism laced with hard-nosed realism; and his ability to be a team player. Mahajan became an all-India secretary of the BJP in 1983 and entered the Rajya Sabha in 1986, but his first major brush with the national media took place at the party’s National Council session at Mumbai—then Bombay—in September 1989.........

Mahajan was instrumental in persuading the BJP leadership—including Vajpayee—to join hands with the Sena.

At the Bombay national council session, Mahajan was everywhere. And in one of his ‘‘background briefings” that were later to become a much-coveted staple for journalists on the BJP or the Parliament beat in the 1990s, the young BJP leader—as was always his wont—gave insights to his thinking by way of anecdote.

.......Later, he became an all-India figure as he rode alongside L K Advani on the Ram Rath Yatra—displaying organisational skills that soon made him indispensable to the party.

But like Arjun who only saw the eye of the bird, Mahajan was always focussed on the political imperative of the moment......

When the BJP formed a coalition government in 1998, he changed his role with ease. It was time to make friends, cultivate contacts across the board—and Mahajan soon became Vajpayee’s key pointsman. As a man who had come up from the ranks, he—more than anyone else in the BJP’s Generation Next leaders— knew local leaders in very state unit of the party.

From 1998 onwards, he extended those networking skills far beyond the BJP— making friends with even Communist MPs as well as “toppers” in the world of business, sports and film.

Nevertheless, he remained a quintessentially ‘‘party man.” In January 2003 when he was divested of the telecom portfolio, Mahajan refused to take an alternative and preferred to join the party organisation as a general secretary—even though that meant working under Venkaiah Naidu who was far junior to him in the party hierarchy.

(Courtesy: The Indian Express)

My Friend, Mr. Mahajan
By Rajdeep Sardesai

In the corridors of power, politicians and journalists share a relationship based on mutual need. It’s a strategic alliance. The politician “feeds” the journalist with privileged information, the journalist depends on the neta for access. In recent times, the lines have got blurred: much of the information disseminated is propaganda, while the access obtained by the journalist has spurred partisan reportage in the mistaken belief that proximity to power is an end in itself......

Which is perhaps why with some hesitation I choose to describe Pramod Mahajan as a “friend”. We have not been dinner companions, we have not shared the secrets of life and we will probably never discuss our personal lives with each other.... And yet, Pramodjee as he is better known, battles for his life in a Mumbai hospital, I must confess to getting rather emotional. The act of a brother gunning down brother may be a mix of a Bollywood potboiler and a Shakespearan tragedy, ..... but for me somehow its not just another news story. Its the fear of losing someone whom one has felt a strange bond with.

Maybe, its because in a funny way Pramod Mahajan and I have run parallel careers. In October 1988, as I took my first tentative steps into journalism through the Times of India in Mumbai, Mr Mahajan was taking his first big step in politics, the cementing of an alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP in Maharashtra. It was one of the first press conferences I covered, and the mood within the assembled journalists was of distinct skepticism...... But somehow, Mahajan was convinced that the future of the BJP lay in ending its sense of ideological purity. In the context of the coalition politics of the 1990s, it was a remarkably prescient political move.

.....The year 1990 was an incredible year in Indian politics, when the political template shifted decisively away from the Congress. It was the year of Mandal and Mandir. As a young reporter assigned to cover the first leg of LK Advani’s Rath Yatra Pramod Mahajan became an intrinsic part of the job. If Advani was the figurehead, Mahajan was the charioteer. Every little detail of the yatra was micro-managed by the BJP general secretary, from the Toyota Rath to the venues to the neatly packed press folders. .....

In 1994, Mahajan decided to also focus on national politics, leaving the Maharashtra BJP in the hands of Gopinath Munde. By now, he was the rising star of the party, the president of its Yuva Morcha, a leader with unquestioned organisational skills, oodles of energy, first rate oratory and the ability to network across the political and corporate worlds, someone who could have breakfast with the Prime Minister in Delhi, lunch with Jayalalithaa in Chennai and dine with the Ambanis in Mumbai. Recognition of these qualities saw him become the country’s youngest Defence Minister in Vajpayee’s 13 day government, and then, in the 1998 to 2004 NDA government, the third most important man in the government as the Prime Minister’s Lakshman, his man for all seasons. During this period, he remained a primary source of information, someone always ready to provide that little bit of breaking news which in the maddening world of television was critical to stay ahead of the competition (the fact that we were both Maharashtrians in the Hindi heartland was no doubt an added advantage). ......

To that extent, despite his flaws, Mahajan offered the hopes of a new BJP, a party which can offer a genuine alternative to the Congress. Its a value that the BJP in particular recognizes only too well, which partly explains the chorus of sympathy for the leader from workers across the country. Its a value that as a political journalist, I have learnt to appreciate. As a “friend’ though its the man’s remarkable journey that I must confess has left an enduring stamp. The road from a small village in Beed to becoming a key decision-maker in the country is a long one, and could scarcely have been easy. As he once laughed, “Whether I become Prime Minister one day or not, I am probably the most famous person that Ambejogai has produced!”

Lotus stemmed
By Swapan Seth

SOME DECADES ago, The Advertising Association of America ran an advertisement showing a shot of Robert Kennedy, assassinated. The caption, evidently alluding to clients, read: “They always shot down our best ideas.’ Pramod Mahajan, good, bad or ugly, was inarguably one of our finest ideas. I have always believed that the other great idea that we lost was Madhavrao Scindia.

For people from my generation, gentlemen like Scindia and Mahajan represented a strange kind of hope. They were part of the system, yet distinctly apart from it. They were both lotuses that grew in dirty ponds. They both had roots and wings.

Mahajan also represented and aggression that was distinctly missing in his party. He was the bridge between ideology and technology. Between the hardline and the hard disk. And that was important given the direction this country is taking today. Globally, it is India’s commerce today that is dictating India’s political standing. Mahajan would have been a master manipulator in this charming circumstance. He was the Spassky of the situation. And like Spassky he illustrated the power of the passed pawn when it came to the last party elections. After all, even grandmasters know when to castle early.

What would have been the future of Pramod Mahajan? The jury is out on that. But one thing is certain that in the politics of coalition, Mahajan would have been great glue. Your enemies seldom weep for you. Would he have led the BJP? Undeniably. In my absolute political naiveté, I got the sense that this being mandated for most state elections was the party’s way to pave the way for his pan-India acceptance.........

Norman Cousins once said, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” On May 3, hope died inside a nation while it lived.

(Courtesy: Hindustan Times)

The spirit indomitable, the man inimitable
By Amba Charan Vashishth

On May 3 people anxious to know about his health heard the news they never wanted to hear: Shri Pramod Mahajan is no more. The eyes of lakhs of people glued to TV and radio sets after they came to know that his conditions was deteriorating got wet. They were not only those who were his friends, his supporters, his admirers and his followers, who all agreed with him for what he did, said or stood for; they were also those who fiercely differed with him, did not like him or his politics.

Shri Pramod Mahajan (PM) was in Maharashtra popularly called “PM” by his name’s initials. Maharashtra had high hopes in him and great expectations from him. So did the country. Many thought that sooner or later, he was bound to reach the pinnacle of glory and accomplishments.

From the day of his unfortunate shooting, the massive crowds that thronged the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai was only the barometer of the popularity and clout he enjoyed with the people the aam aadmi and the khas admi alike. The only difference was that the who’s who of politics, industry, media, Bollywood, got highlighted in the media and the ordinary man was just waiting outside on the road anxious to know about him. So massive was the crowd that it became a problem for the police to control. The police had, ultimately, to cordon off the area and the BJP leaders had to appeal to the people and party workers all over the country not to rush to Mumbai, as they all wished, but pray for him in temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras. And the people did.

A daily rightly said that had Shri Pramod Mahajan been able to himself witness the sea of love and affection that had surged forward for him, he would have collapsed and drowned in ecstasy.

Referring to what happened on April 22, India Today editor-in-chief Aroon Purie wrote: “The incident has devastated a family, shaken a party to its roots and left India bewildered. It is a case of sibling rivalry taken to the extreme and a story with many dimensions. It is about the great Indian family, and the forces at work within it, about Indian politics and the price that people pay to be in the business and a tale of two brothers.”

It was a travesty of destiny that a person who thought he had no enemies was shot down by a person who was not and could not be his enemy. As a Union Minister he had no security at his residence. All he had was his two personal assistants and an orderly. While campaigning in the recently concluded assembly elections in strife-torn Assam as BJP prabhari he had no security. When people noticed him moving without even a solitary gunman, some suggested that he get some security as it is not safe to move about without it in Assam, particularly during elections, he quipped, “I’ve no enemies. Therefore, why should anybody kill me?” Even while being moved to Hinduja hospital and still conscious, he is reported to have said, “Maine kisi ka kya bigara tha?” What an irony that a person who had no enemies had one from within, within his family.

Shri Mahajan’s death is a tragedy for the BJP, for the whole nation. It has now turned out to be a tragedy for his brother who shot at him. Many people believed that if Shri Mahajan was able to come out of the trauma, his assailant brother would get reprieve. He will pardon him; he will save him. But destiny had wished otherwise – to punish the guilty.

If what his assailant brother told the police, as appeared in the media is to be believed, it has further endeared Shri Mahajan in the eyes of the nation. It shows that he was there in politics to serve the nation and the party and not just to promote and protect the interests of his family members at all costs, as many of the present-day politicians seem to be doing to foster dynastic and family politics and interests.

Promodji proved a fighter till the last breath. Even with three bullets inside his body, profusely bleeding, he was alert and agile enough to ask his family to summon his brother-in-law Shri Gopinath Munde. When they decided to move him to Nanavati hospital, he asked them to take him to Hinduja Hospital which was nearby. He was still mentally alert to know that time was precious and he should be in hospital as early as possible. He anticipated that by the time he reached hospital he may not be conscious enough to tell many things to the doctors, so he asked his family members to tell doctors that his blood group was B+ and that he was diabetic. It was his zeal and zest for life and spirit to fight back that made him struggle for life till the last for 12 long days with serious wounds in vital parts of his body and three bullets lodged inside throughout.

Shri Mahajan believed in being a ‘doer’ himself, a perfectionist to the core. He wanted everything in order, in time and in perfect shape. In doing that or getting that done, he, at times, appeared curt and stern. For some, this particular trait of his personality hurt them. Many who worked with him could, yet, discern in an otherwise strict, hard taskmaster image a unique sense of affection and love for his colleagues and workers. His infectious smile was disarming; it conquered both his friends and his detractors like.

Shri Mahajan, many a times, did become the centre of controversies. Yet, each time he came out unscathed. He was aware of this weakness — or strength – in him. He confessed: “I am a doer. That’s why I always end up as a whipping boy”.

Many have compared him to two other promising leaders, though in Congress, who had a future – late Shri Madhavrao Scindia and Shri Rajesh Pilot. Both had met with an untimely death, the first in an air crash and the other in a road accident. Yet the public sympathy and support Shri Mahajan generated all over the country among the young and the old, the rich and the poor, his own partymen and his opponents, has no parallel and surpassed all precedents and more so when he held no government post. That is a tribute to the stature that Shri Mahajan had acquired. The people’s love and affection from all walks of life came to the fore and overflowed when he was injured and later died.

His loss has created a void which is not easy to fill. There is no dearth of sincere, hardworking, committed and selfless soldiers in the party. But BJP not have a Pramod Mahajan again. That much is sure.