Harivansh - Chandra Shekhar: The Last Icon of Ideological Politics

CHANDRA
SHEKHAR

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Copyright Harivansh and Ravi Dutt Bajpai 2019

Photograph courtesy: Neeraj Shekhar

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ISBN: 978-93-5333-401-7

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in memoriam

Chandra Shekhar
(17 April 19278 July 2007)

Khula khelo sansaar mein, bandh sake nahin koye,
Ghaat jakaat kyaa kare, jo sir bojh na hoye.

Lead an unfettered life, then no one can bind you down,
If you travel light, then the fee collector can only frown.

Veteran Congress leader, Dwarka Prasad Mishra recited the above couplet, in the last Congress Working Committee meeting he attended just before the declaration of Emergency. It was the time when Chandra Shekhar had come out in open defiance, mounting an ideological challenge against the Congress leadership for not fulfilling its promise of ending poverty. He was advocating a dialogue between Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) and Indira Gandhi to resolve the crisis emerging out of the Bihar movement. Mishra addressed all the Working Committee members and said that Kabirs words reminded him of Chandra Shekhar. It was Mishras deep appreciation of Chandra Shekhars personality and a message to his Congress colleagues that people-centric politics required an unselfish commitment and a life free of personal ambitions and desires.

Chaah gayee chintaa miti, manua beparvaah;
Jaako kachhunaa chahiye, vah saahan ke sah.

By escaping desires, worries disappear,
and the heart is freed of strings;

One who does not crave for anything,

Indeed is the emperor of all the kings.

Dwarka Prasad Mishra, then, counselled Chandra Shekhar with the above couplet from Kabir, reminding him that the path he had chosen required him to travel without any baggage on his back.

There can be no better tribute to the life and political career of Chandra Shekhar.

Contents

Pranab Mukherjee

Foreword

Shri Chandra Shekhar, the eighth Prime Minister of India, was one of the tallest leaders of his times, who closely witnessed Indias journey as an independent nation and shaped its political landscape. An unquestionable idealist, a leader with his fingers on the pulse of the people, he believed that ultimate answers lay with the people themselves. His commitment to the dispossessed and his frequent padayatras aimed at establishing a direct dialogue with the people remained a matter of faith for him throughout. He comprehended the sociopolitical landscape of the country like few others.

A socialist and a Congressman later, Chandra Shekharjis political zenith was achieved when as the president of the Janata Party, he led it to victory to form the first Non-Congress government in the country in 1977. A parliamentarian of long standing, he remained a member of either Houses of the Parliament continuously from 1962 to 1984 and thereafter from 1989 to 2004. He achieved his parliamentary/administrative pinnacle as Prime Minister of the Republic in 1991. Though he headed a short-lived lame duck government, he steered the nation as a statesman in extremely difficult times, when the economy had nosedived, the polity was unprecedentedly fractured and a former prime minister had been brutally assassinated.

I had the opportunity of working closely with Shri Chandra Shekhar, when he was in the Congress Party and in the Parliament. Though often on different sides of the political divide, our views and opinions converged when it came to people-centric economic policies or his approach towards strengthening the Indian polity and democracy. Be it abolition of privy purse, nationalization of banks and coal mines or the Congress Partys economic resolution of 1969, I was on the same side of the ideological spectrum as the Young Turk. Standing against politics of personality, his unique leadership style is an inspiration for the youth as well as the political class of the country. His emphasis on well-researched articles on issues of national importance, for a free and fair democratic debate, was one of the traits I admired the most. A pragmatic politician, within the parameters of socialist ideology, he never claimed to be a theorist of socialism.

He had a unique way of expressing his thoughts and ideas as a writer, an editor and as a leader in the traditional and public gatherings. I have always marvelled at the consistency of his concerns and thoughts, which were always directed towards the interest of the nation, especially the downtrodden.

This book, written in simple language, has attempted to and succeeded in lucidly elucidating the finer details and nuances of Shri Chandra Shekhars life and times.

The author of this book, Shri Harivansh, now Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, has himself had an inspiring life. Starting his career as a journalist, he faced many challenges and numerous struggles which eventually led him to becoming the Additional Media Advisor to the then Prime Minister Shri Chandra Shekhar. After his exemplary contribution in journalism as a scholar and a formidable editor, he has now ventured into the realm of politics. As one can ascertain from this book, his keen observations on public life, its institutions and political process make him an insightful commentator and a formidable author. I admire his sincerity in bringing out a well-researched biographical account of Shri Chandra Shekhar. The efforts and earnestness of Shri Harivansh in painstakingly compiling the life story of the Young Turk, Shri Chandra Shekhar in carefully planned seven chapters, will be a delight to his readers.

I sincerely believe and hope that this book will be widely appreciated and read. I wish the author my best for his future and wish him success in his journalistic, scholary and political endeavours.

Pranab Mukherjee

(Former President of India)

Preface

In most popular or scholarly writings in English on the political history of independent India, Chandra Shekhar would hardly find a mention, not even in a footnote. It should not come as a surprise as he was neither a loyal foot soldier of Indias first family, nor did he command a loyal army of foot soldiers to look after his publicity campaign, image management and propagation of his legacy. Independent India has witnessed only three individualsLal Bahadur Shastri, Chandra Shekhar and Narendra Modiwho started from humble origins and succeeded in holding the highest political office in the land. The elite sections of Indian society have a tendency to undermine people from Hindi-speaking regions, and this patent arrogance of the privileged class has denied the likes of Acharya Narendra Dev, Madan Mohan Malviya or Sampurnanand their due stature and place in history. Instead, these stalwarts of the freedom movement have been portrayed as right-wing reactionaries, as if only an exclusive class of people could practise ideas of liberalism, secularism and universalism.